NSDAA --Revised--
by BlueWolfGirl365
Summary: I'm back and with so much more to offer! A newly revised, re-edited, and maybe even detailed version of Not So Different After All. This is my own story so please no copyrighting. "Kayla is an ER doctor who lives in Texas, but with some freak accident gets caught up in a decepticon battle with the autobots. Can she save a Prime "
1. Chapter 1

_**Guess who's baaack ;) Not only am I back for good, but I have a whole lot of KAPOW for ya! **_

_**After a couple of maybe years... eh I dunno, I decided I would take a break, for that I did, and am finally back with a new site, a whole network of chapters being updated revised and renewed. So, without further adue, here is the wonderful story, rewritten and maybe lengthened, Not So Different After All...**_

_**Transformer Universe is Not My Own**_

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It was another one of those nights where I would wake up from the on-call beeper calling me into the emergency ward on my day off, because they needed me, and believe me they did. Truthfully, I didn't mind it, because I was already a well-known doctor and one of the very few veteran doctors that have been working there since they had done their intern and residency back in their freshman year of medical school.

When I had entered the small Texas hospital I was suddenly bombarded with doctors and nurses asking and ushering me to each and every direction, in a definite fit for my help. It was going to be another long night that much I knew.

Fortunately, a few of the other newer doctors showed up to let me leave at my normal time. Which was around nine o'clock in the morning. Starving and nearly restless from a good four hours of working non-stop since I had gotten there. I finally headed towards my breakfast place just a few blocks away and a good walking distance as well.

Knocking on the door of the dimly lit restaurant, a smile lit my own face as the familiar owner rounded the corner to let me in. "Another call from the ER?" he asked, with an expression of disbelief when he opened the door to let me in. Once inside, the bacon and coffee scented residence, I decided to plop and slump down at my usual spot at the bar. A long sigh, and a rest of my head on the back of the seat, and I was golden.

"Like you wouldn't believe..." I said, pausing to look up as Pete rose his eyebrows, egging me on for more like he always did, while he got the coffee ready. "I had a car accident to deal with, but thank god it was only one, or else I would've died myself trying to save more elderly getting random heart attacks on the road."

"Sounds awful" Pete said slowly, and as he did, he poured my coffee. Coffee was the best on a rather chilly morning in Houston. "Thanks," I said as soon as he finished pouring. Taking a sip, I thought about my night and almost immediately held my finger up before Pete could continue, "Here's the best part…" I drew out as a good gossiper might do (not saying I am, but I do love to listen) "Three, three GROWN MEN came in with injuries all over their bodies and obvious broken limbs. So when I asked them what happened, do you know what they said to me? They told me that they were trying some 'jackass moves, like from the movie jackass'!"

Pete chuckled at this, "My dear Kayla, did you tell them that they can't read warning labels?" he asked as his southern drawl was brought out with his sincere sarcasm. Smiling devilishly, I shook my head and brought the cup to my mouth for a gulp before I continued, "Nope, I smacked all three upside the head with my clipboard, and then I told them off… it was as easy as making pie on a Sunday morning, they were that easy to scare".

"Kayla, Kayla, Kayla" Pete shook his head with a smile on his face, taking a sip of his own coffee, he looked out towards the now filled sidewalk of bussling people going to church or going towards something to eat. "You need to be careful, you may lose your job one day for harassing the patient. Or worse yet get sued."

Scoffing at this, I shook my head, "They won't fire me, they need me" I finished speaking, by sipping on the coffee.

It was about thirty minutes later that people had started to come in to the restaurant, which was around nine-thirty when it's supposed to open, but with Pete being a good father figure he decided that he'd open up for me at one just in case I got out a little earlier and needed a good meal before I went off again. He always took care of me, and I always came in and entertained him, ever since I had started residency, this was the place I would go too.

With my feet propped up on the chair next to me I read through my nook that I got from Barnes and Nobles a few weeks ago and lately it's been my addiction. Pete on the other hand was reading his newspaper across from me and pouring himself and me coffee when needed. A simple way to put it, this was my safe place to just sit and relax and that is also two blocks away from the hospital I work at.

Taking another sip of my coffee I soon felt eyes on me and looked to Pete who was staring at me with wide and concerning eyes. "What?" I asked, with a shrug of my shoulders casually.

"Kayla, about right now with those eight cups of coffee already I think I should take the cup away and give ya some good ole cold water." Snorting I took another gulp of my coffee and set it down with a clink to the metal counter, "Now Pete, you know that, that wouldn't be necessary. I mean even if you tried you wouldn't be able to get the coffee pot away from me." I said with a smile, though he knew I was dead serious, and was living on the coffee now to keep me awake for another call I was sure I'd get soon. Chuckling he looked me in the eyes before grabbing his newspaper again, "you got that right."

We were casual, just sipping as good friends did, and every so often, Pete would leave me to refill or take orders, but then again, he was the owner. So the workers that did work here, were doing their jobs while Pete was the good owner that gave courtesy and a check to all his guests just to see how they were doing. I was about to take another sip of my now tenth coffee, when all of a sudden we heard a loud boom and screaming coming from outside. Almost immediately, everyone turned to see what was going on, but all we could see were people running the other direction away from the hospital.

When a girl came in, panting hard I started to get a bit worried and put my nook down. When she barely caught her breath she looked back and screamed before fainting. My doctor instincts kicked in and soon I was kneeling besides her. Giving her the check to see if she was breathing.

"Oh My God! Is she okay?" A rather large woman said with a very thick southern accent that very nearly annoys me. "She's fine, now could everyone please step away so I could assess the damage?" I said feeling a pulse and faint breathing. Pete came in and started pushing people away, "Come on, she is a doctor so she can help, but she does need some room." As soon as I touched the girl to lift her legs, a loud boom was heard off in the distance, and looking outside I noticed smoke rising from where the hospital was at.

"Oh no…" I trailed off, and looked to the girl on the floor who was coming too. Knowing that Pete would know how to take care of her I looked to him who nodded. "Thank you" I said reluctantly, and stood to walk out the door.

As soon as I was outside I had to back up because all of a sudden a large metal foot came down in front of me and kept walking forward towards the hospital. I must say it shocked the hell out of me, and almost made me think twice about what I was about to do. "There's no way..." I said, but already knew what my stubborn mind would do, so I looked in the direction of the hospital.

Determined to make it to the hospital I ran for the road that was just small enough for a pickup to get through. However I just had to look up at the magnificent thing that almost stepped on me. I was rather shocked to see a large silver robot that had jet wings for a back walking towards the other black robot that was down the road. "Death con two" I said with a huff of humor and continued walking, shaking my head in the process.

"My parents wouldn't believe the story that I'm going to tell em" I mentioned to myself, while walking as fast as I could, and keeping mindful of the large robots from a comic book that could come down and squash me if they felt like it. Making my way down, I stopped in-between the three way road and was about to sneak my way to the end of the road which was about four shops away from the hospital. Taking a deep breath in, I readied myself but stopped immediately when I heard engines roaring and looked behind me like a deer caught in headlights. A police car was strolling down the road, which made me sigh in relief.

Going into the middle of the road I put my hands out to stop the cop, and when he did I looked to the driver's seat and I think my eyes grew about two sizes because there was nobody driving! "Oh shit!" I said and took off running, at the sound of shifting metal I looked back to see the car change into another big robot that started off towards me. Skimming to a halt I ran in the direction of the hospital but stopped when I saw two more robots one in black and the other green and instead of running after me they ran after the other robots that happened to be behind me.

Once they were gone I once again reluctantly ran towards the hospital which was a little ways away now, but before I got to the door I had to duck because a robot came flying my way and just barely hit me. Debri hit my head and caused a few scratches, but when I made it in, the very thought of myself hurt was not the first thing on my list. People were hiding inside the hospital doors and I had to shove through them to get to the front desk.

"Martha what happened?" I gasped, just barely catching my breath and trying to calm my head that tried to wrap its way around what was happening at this moment. "Kayla, your forehead!" She squealed and grabbed a cloth from underneath to wipe my head. "I don't have time for this," I said irritated and brushing her off, "What happened?!"

Getting the point, she sat down, throwing the cloth away and giving me the defeated look, "Well, all of a sudden these robots came on the TV and then they were right there, the patients are alright but the satellite is gone" She said in the annoying high pitched drawl.

"Okay thank you Marty" I said and headed for the staircase, but was stopped by a warm fat hand clenching my wrists. "Honey where do you think you're going?"

"Going to the roof" I said trying to get out of her tough grip. "Now why would you do that?" she asked, concerned, tightening her grip more, and shaking her head. "Because if I don't check to see if the electricity is still working and the satellite hasn't blown the transformer then I won't have to worry about the people that are on life support", this time I said it sternly and she gratefully dropped my hand sighing.

"Fine, but be careful!" she yelled after me. Opening the door to the roof I saw another black robot a couple of feet away on top of a building looking down upon the city. Looking to the satellite and back to the robot I ran to the satellite and tried to lift it away from the cables.

Although, having a history of bad strength and embarrassment's from it I couldn't exactly lift the satellite and wasted the precious time I had before I looked up and saw a jet transform into the silver robot landing on top of the building that I was on. The contact with the roof made a large vibration, making me fall to the ground, and when I tried to get up my footing was caught in the cables that were still intact.

"Lord Megatron, Prime!" the silver robot said in a scratched voice to the black one from afar, and then looked down to me struggling. When I finally got my foot loose I stood and got away from the hand that threatened to grab me but lost my balance and fell over the edge. Screaming, my last thought was... 'Holy Crap... I'm going to die!'

I swear that my life flashed before my eyes, because all I saw was the ground nearing me and fast. That is until a large metal hand came into view and collided with my body. Instead of reacting I just stared wide eyed at the ground, not breathing, just staying still like a frozen Popsicle. "Sorry about that" a deep voice said that startled me back into the present making me take in a big gulp of air that soon led to a short fit of coughing. Shaking I tried to lift myself from the hand to look at the robot that was currently holding me.

Starting from the knees I worked my eyes up to the face, and believe me I think my breath caught in my throat. "Holy-" I started, but stopped when I heard something above my head move. "Priiiimmeee!" A rather deeper scratched voice said aloud from above. Instead of being the jet-robot, I saw the black robot jump straight for me and the robot holding me now known as Prime. However, before I could scream Prime pulled his hand back and clutched me to what I think was his chest. In reality, I was just dazed confused and utterly shocked, 'What the hell is happening!' I thought, and was still trying to regain my breath, my pulse now going way too fast for my mind to keep on thinking.

When the black robot came to the ground I thought that with the length of the tower that he would have died instantly, but boy was I wrong. As soon as he landed centimeters away he aimed straight for the side of the Primes torso, but instead of hitting him the robot known as Prime put his arm in the way. The fight was underway when the Prime's deep voice said "Megatron!" back to the black robot in a grunt-like manner.

Closing my eyes I don't remember much except for the clashing of metal against metal, the movement of the plates underneath, and the grunts from the Prime. I don't even remember when it ended, because in the next moment I shot up and realized that I awoke in a stretcher on the back of an emergency vehicle.

"Mrs. Reaten please lay back down" a man about my age said who had dark brown hair that was somewhat lengthy with blue eyes, and a slight unshaved beard. Shaking my head after I put it in my palms I closed my eyes and tried to remember what had just happened. Thankfully when I shot up I could still notice that I was indeed still in Houston, and actually a few blocks from the hospital.

"Mrs. Reaten please lay back down" he said a little more concerned than usual. "Ms.-" I mumbled in my hands that made him give a confused noise as to what I said. "It's Ms. Kayla Harper, I am no longer married" I stated with a little snap to my voice as I lifted my head and stared into his blue eyes.

"Oh-" he trailed, and looked at me in confusion. "We eloped and he cheated, plus it was when I was sixteen so it doesn't really count" I was bitter even after just having met this EMT. It seemed that whenever Brent was brought up I was always still attached and bitter to the subject. Even when I'm in dangerous situations as well.

"Hmm, makes sense with your age" he said before he checked my vitals. "May I ask, what's going on?"

"The information is confidential"

"What do you—" I started, feeling a needle go in, making me fall back into another long sleep.

The next time I woke up, I was back in another bed, but this time I was in a room. Looking around I noticed that my purse had been retrieved and another pair of clothes now sat on the nightstand, obviously not my own.

"What in the world is going on…" I whispered and rubbed my forehead when it started to ache, and at the first touch of my brown hair I was disgusted. Looking to the door across from me I grabbed my new set of clothes and headed for the bathroom door. Once inside I had to cover my eyes from the bright light that shaded the room. Turning the shower to hot I proceeded to look in the mirror, and what I saw equally increased the disgust I felt. My body was bruised, I had scars, and I was covered in grime!

"UCK!" I said to myself and felt the steam of the shower rise up and into the air. Looking back to the mirror I pointed to myself, "You are definitely getting a shower", and went into the shower.

**10 minutes later-**

"Aaah" I sighed happily when I got out of the shower and into the cool air. With two towels on me I walked across the room to look for a hair blow dryer considering there wasn't one in the bathroom. Going through all of the drawers I gave up and decided to put my new clothes on.

Looking at myself in the mirror I was somewhat pleased and wondered who picked out the clothes. I wore a purple tank top with a light colored flared jeans, and black flats. My hair went down in a wet mass of blackish brown curls. However I wasn't very pleased with my hairs state, and flicked my hair to one side of my face before I took a deep breath and started out the door. "I wonder whose house I'm in" I asked myself, grabbing hold of the handle and twisting.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Good Afternoon, _**

**_Thought I wasn't going to write, eh? Well, I'm here again, with chapter two, and let me tell you, I've done a lot to these chapters that has fixed it to it's max. However, I'm sure you all are wondering what's happening to Not So Different After All, why chapters are disappearing? Well, here is the thing, if I keep it up, then fanfictions will think I've copyrighted, so, I figured there really is no point in keeping the old story, when it's just getting a bit of a primp and clean up. So, with every new chapter I write on this side, the older ones that I've revised disappear. To where Not So Different After All, ends up disappearing and being replaced by NSDAA the revised version. I do hope this doesn't cause a whole lot of ruckus, because I am doing this for a purpose._**

**_Also, if you want the most recent upload, the live upload before the fanfiction upload? Then please feel free to subscribe to me on Wattpad, or my Website, where I tend to upload a day before this upload. The best way to find my website URL, and the wattpad link, is through my website at..._**

**_rizzies-works .weebly .com _**_((Do not forget to get rid of the spaces))_

**_Again, I have no claim to the Transformer Universe, and those reading my stories, please keep in mind it is an Out of Character and is a fanfiction, meaning it doesn't always relate to past transformers histories, or even the movies. It is just a major spin-off, or as I like to say... my perspective of the transformers universe. So, in a way, it's still sort of my own creation ^_^_**

* * *

When I pulled the door open, I soon found myself in a lobby like area. The front desk was the centerpiece to what I think was a one floor hotel, but from what's been going on lately, I just couldn't say for certain. The floor was in a U-type fashion with other doors around me ending towards the front that seemed to be very open to the outside street. It had a simple grey and black coloring that I found nice, and when I stopped looking around I noticed a soft cough to get my attention. Eyes shifted towards the front desk where a man sat. He seemed to be in his mid-thirties and was seemingly quite content at staring at me with those blank blue eyes. Making my way to the front desk I happened to notice the grey's within his blonde hair.

"Do I need to check out?" I asked sincerely, considering I had no clue as to what I was doing here in this one floor 'hotel'. It was quite awkward for me to ask such a question in the first place, so I just waited, tapping my fingers on the marble counter top and biting my lip in question. Thankfully, he shook his head and stood to lean over the counter towards me. The sudden movement startled me so I backed away, afraid of what might happen. With a wave closer from his hand I leaned in and listened for what he was about to say. Wondering if what I was in was for sure a dream. "No, but I would like for you to follow me to the other building. It's kind of urgent." He whispered into my ear in a secretive way, making me feel a churn of disgust and the color drain from my face at his request.

"Uhm, no thanks. So, since I don't have to pay to check out, I am just gonna go." I said as I tried to quickly get away from him without being too rude. Heading towards the door slowly I kept my caution at a high alert level. And definitely by this point I was muddling through my blank mind to try and figure out what the hell I did last night. Many thoughts ran through my brain and it all lead to being drugged. I did remember having a needle go into my arm and that was about it for as far as I could go back.

So lost in my world, that when I felt a hand grab my shoulder, I jumped, realized who it was and did a half twirl to kick him in the side and then jab him in the neck before I could take off out the door. With my heart racing and my breath picking up the same pace I finally felt the shock come in my throat when I recognized that the road that I was on was nowhere near Texas. 'What is going on!' my mind screamed, as I looked around me and even up at the tall buildings.

"Hey!" I heard a hoarse voice behind me and turning to see the same guy standing with the door open. Going into an adrenaline rush, I gave him no chance to grab me again before I had started to run down the street, but skidded to a stop when I saw military guys standing in front of a gate. Looking behind me I noticed the guy waddling over towards me with a pointed finger. Squealing I ran for the soldiers, "Excuse me!" I said quickly out of breath. Even though it was just meters away from the small one floor hotel. "Ma'am we need you to step away" One of the soldiers said as I neared too close.

"What do you mean? I need your help, that guy was going to rape me," Bewildered, I pointed to the guy who was getting closer as the time passed. My own self inching away and trying to get closer towards the military men. "Ma'am we need you to step away, this is the second warning, next time there won't be any" the same solider said to me. Pushing me away a little just to keep me from getting closer. "What the hell do you mean? I am being chased! I mean aren't you guys supposed to be the bodyguards to our country, what the hell?" I said when I felt a hand on my shoulder, and looked behind me to see the guy right there. Screaming I grabbed his hand and flipped him on his back then heeled him in the stomach before I put the heel of my foot above his windpipe.

"Whoa! Whoa!" the other guard finally yelled realizing that I was in danger, but what I thought was the exact opposite, as he radioed somebody that a crazy woman was getting ready to kill Steve."Wait, you guys-"I started but was grabbed harshly by the one solider that annoyed me the most. "Ma'am this is a federal offense and you will be-"

"Jerry its okay let her go, she's the one that they want" the other guy said when he got done with his little walkie talkie radio thing a ma-jig. "Really?" he said, loosening his grip that I reluctantly shoved away from me, "This is the girl?" he continued in disbelief. Wary of my actions in the process, as I straightened out my clothes, and huffed. "I'm not stupid I can hear you. Why? Because I'm right here!" I said a little frustrated as to what was going on. Meanwhile the guy known as Steve was on the ground and was still moaning. "We need to bring you inside for a little talk" the solider in front of me with the walkie talkie said and motioned me towards the gates.

"Now why would I do that?" I said with sass as I put my hands on my hips, yet keeping my ground. "You two didn't even have the balls to save my ass, and now you want to take me in? For what? I didn't do anything but save my own ass."

"Because we are military officers and opposing us could result in a military offense" the one behind me said, and lightly pushed me forward, but I stopped him by putting a hand up. "I am perfectly capable of walking by myself, thank you" I said staying my ground and crossing my arms. "I still need a reason as to why anyone wants me over here"

"Ma'am that is confidential information, we just need to have a brief conversation with you and then you can be on your way. If you resist, we will take course action" the one behind me said. Getting frustrated, I pursed my lips, and mulled it over a bit, before finally walking after the solider who had opened the gate by now. Looking around it seemed to be a normal building, however when we got to the garage door I was surprised to find it a little large for a simple semi-truck to stay in. On command to the soldier's voice it opened and when the lights shined through in the light of the day I was surprised to find a pure white hangar type place hidden inside the building.

My mouth opened wide as I took in all of it. Inside was a huge area where people were creating and analyzing stuff, and as I was taken to a specific spot I was even more surprised to find that all of the men and women working in the building were of a military background. The badges and ribbons saying it all. Looking to the left of me I saw a semi-truck and a couple of other cars parked in the hangar off to the side. Although when I heard a "follow me" I was slightly confused when there was a staircase leading up to a balcony type place where others were on computers. "Is this some place where you military jocks come and fix up your cars and weaponry?" I asked, motioning towards the truck stop behind me, and heard a snicker come from that exact place.

"Actually Ms. Harper, this is a secret military base called N.E.S.T, I am Lieutenant Colonel William Lennox, and it is very nice to meet you" he said leaving his hand out to shake it in a professional manner. "It's nice to meet you too Lt. Colonel Lennox, but what exactly am I doing here in the middle of a large city?"" I asked, after shaking his hand, the tone in my voice was clear that I was wanting answers now and not later. "That is a very good question…" he started, and with a wave to his hand from behind me I heard the start of an engine and looked to see the semi move over to where we were at. Confused I made my way to the edge of the railing, but was held back by a hand to my arm. "I would step back if I were you" Lennox said to me in a serious tone, and nodding a bit I stepped back.

All of a sudden I heard metal shifting and gears' moving in a wonderful sound, but when I saw what was really going on and what was forming before me I was suddenly hit with everything that happened the day before. Because right in front of me was this big metal robot with blue and red coloring on it. Although, when it moved towards me I couldn't look away from the serious and tired looking blue eyes that seemed to bore right into mine. "I was hoping to let him tell you, Ms. Harper, as to why you are here, and to also introduce you to our good friend, the autobot leader, Optimus Prime." At first I was fascinated by those big blue eyes, but when he shifted a bit reality came crashing down on me like a boulder. Confusion and reality were messing with me, and at this point I needed to sit down, but firmly stood my place. Not understanding what I was supposed to do, I just started with the simple stuff, "Mahh—my name is Kayla Harper, it's – v-very nice to meet you" I stuttered, but mentally slapped myself when I felt the embarrassment rise to my face.

"It is equally a pleasure to meet a person of your standards" His deep voice said, and instantly I recognized the voice as the metal hand that saved me from death. Going into a deep thought I almost missed everyone's eyes on me, and in an instant I went from deep thought to being ten times more embarrassed than the stuttering issue that happened not moments ago. "I- what do you mean by a person of my standards?" I questioned, knowing full well that I was known in Texas as a number one Emergency Care Doctor, that had saved many lives from the brink of death. However, Texas was as far as I got with my degree from Yale, and Texas was were I mainly stayed. So knowing me outside of Texas was hardly even possible. "You are a doctor are you not?" his voice rumbled through the now silent hangar, which didn't help my nervous heart from beating faster from all the attention.

"Yes, but I do not specialize in anything in particular. You see I'm an ER doctor that deals with emergency cases" Looking into his shining blue eyes all the nervous breakdown and the stuttering went away, and it felt like it was just me and him. The oddest feeling in the world, and I couldn't exactly explain why either, so I just let it be. He shifted slightly and nodded in understanding, but before he went on he put his hand close to the floor of the platform. Clearly confused with his hand being right in front of my feet he continued, "I need you to hop on my hand if you will?"

Without further complaints I gulped and then put my hands on the railing. I wasn't entirely afraid of heights; it's just that when it comes to trusting a moving robot and the platform underneath your feet, I'd choose the platform any day. But today wasn't going to be one of those days, so I took in a deep breath of fresh air through my nose and hoisted myself over the edge. Landing in a semi-graceful crouch I then looked to Lennox and the people that were watching me behind him intently. "Trust him" was all Lennox said, and when I nodded I slowly started to sit down until I could grab the metal with my hands. Once I was situated I looked to Optimus who was waiting patiently, 'What a gentleman' I thought and felt a soft smile appear on my lips before I nodded towards those blue eyes.

He moved slowly enough for me not to get a whiplash, and for a first time rider on a robots hand it was a lot smoother than a wooden rollercoaster. The odd sensation churned in my stomach as yet again I felt that emotion swirl through me like a burning flame. 'What is this?' I questioned, feeling as if this was unreal. "This is a bit unreal" I had to say out loud, and grabbed tighter on the plates to see if I was dreaming or not. Optimus didn't say anything as he walked on.

Now facing the other robots that were slightly smaller I smiled and waved politely while trying to hide my overall fear of them. With his other arm, Optimus pointed to a smaller robot on the end that definitely looked female to me, but you couldn't say when it came to potential alien robots. "This is Arcee, the only auto bot femme—"

"Optimus, I don't mean to be rude," I interrupted, "but I am not entirely sure on what's going on here, and what I'm doing here anyway's with alien robot things that I just met? I mean all of it is a lot more than unreal, its something that you see out of a comic book. " Nodding in understanding he sighed in a weird way and went on about how their world and the war that was raging on between the autobots and decepticons had destroyed their planet and that they have come here, and what they have done in the past six years on earth. I must admit that it was a rather intriguing story and listened until the very end. Once he was done the introductions went on, "So the one next to Arcee is Jolt, then Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Bumblebee, Jazz, Mudflap and Skids, Ratchet, Ironhide, and Mirage?" I said when he was finished telling me all the names of each of the autobots. To which he nodded and then lifted me to his face so we could see face to face.

"Ms. Kayla, we need you to keep our secret, but in order to do so we cannot let you out of our site" he said in a deep and serious tone, making my spine tremble with the sheer base of volume that he used rocked through the plates underneath me. "Why just me? There were plenty of others that saw this, and I'm sure the whole world knows about you, so why me?" I knew it was a question at some point that was needing answered and in fact I think they all knew it would come as well. "This is true, but we need you in the department of health, teaching those about the human anatomy and emergency care. From our records, you are the youngest with the highest degree of knowledge, and we have picked you to be able to not only concentrate on what you have certified in, but to be able to certify in other enhancements as well. The anatomy of cybertronians." Optimus said, and then continued, "You will be apprenticing with Ratchet our lead medic. At this point, my mouth had dropped, I couldn't believe the proposal he was handing me, and the fact that they wanted someone like me to learn their anatomy, their structure, and to what? Teach other military personell such tactics?

"So what's in it for me?" I honestly couldn't believe that I just bargained with an autobot alien leader, and almost felt the embarassement for him when it blurted out of my mouth after I mauled everything over. "Ms. Kayla, we hope that you don't mind, but we need you to stay here for a while and help with the autobots. We aren't certain when you can leave, but all of the autobots and I are here to help if you need anything. "Lennox said, and Optimus proceeded to turn around to let me down, but I just watched Lennox, and didn't get up from my position on Optimus' hand.

"So," I started, and put a hand to my chin, "If I am to stay here for a little while, then where am I to stay and what about my things?" "We have given you an apartment and have taken all of your belongings and moved them there until we can further arrange to your exact accomidations." "You did what?" I asked a little shocked as to what they did and how they accomplished it in under a day. "Yes we took all that belonged to you and put it in one of the rooms of the hotel next to us, and your dog is safely there as well" Lennox confirmed. "Casey is here too?"

"If you mean your dog, then yes" he said with an awkward yet warm smile. In reality I was just not buying all of this and after thinking about it a little more and getting off of Optimus's hand I was finally ready to face what was to come. Even if it meant I had no idea as to what I was really doing here. "Fine, I will stay here, and keep your secret, but I have one condition." I said firmly with a finger raised towards Lennox and Optimus. "Anything" Optimus said, his blue eyes strangely intent on my persona. "I want to start work first thing tomorrow"

Smiling, they both agreed to my condition, and let me get off the platform to show me a tour of the place. It was beautiful, in a futuristic secret base kind of way, and after a while I got used to the fact that I was going to be living here temporarily. However, when I got back to the one floored hotel I felt sorry for the guy that I injured because he was no longer there, and it nearly knocked my socks off when we went to a door and it opened to be an elevator. "This thing goes up right?" I asked the soldiers' who were escorting me, and they nodded, pressing the 34th floor. Then turning right down a big light brown hallway with somewhat bright lights, I proceeded to watch the numbers on the doors as we neared what was to be my new apartment. When we finally reached the last door on the right that was numbered 138; they gave me the new keys that were finally mine and left in a silent hurry down the hall.

"Weird…" I whispered when they turned to go into the elevator, and proceeded to put the keys into the lock and turned the knob when I heard the click. Opening the door I was half expecting something low class like the hotel it was made out to be, but what I saw was completely and utterly different. Something that shocked me, yet made my heart melt when I saw its inner beauty.

"Oh my gho-osh" I whispered to myself and felt the dark brown walls of the small entry way. To the right of me was a small closet, but when I took a small step forward I was in both a state of shock and awe. "I can't believe that this is mine!" I laughed in excitement as I took in the place. The small entry way gave in to a large living room like area that was facing a beautiful view of the city, and right behind the large living room was an even bigger and wider kitchen space with an island and red black granite on top of a light colored cabinet space. The living room was amazing and almost brought tears to my eyes, because in front of the cream colored couches that were obviously my lazy boys was a medium sized red bricked fireplace that had a flat screen TV on top of it. It was enough to call home, and when I saw the large window on either side of it that led towards the end of the kitchen in an "L" shaped fashion I wanted to cry at the beauty of the view. Smiling I hugged myself at all that surrounded me, but was replaced with loneliness and discomfort when I knew that I wasn't home.

What got me out of the lonely and depressing state was the sound of smelling underneath the far right side door. Smiling wide at what I knew was behind that door I slowly stood and padded my way towards over, before kneeling on my toes in front of it. "Caasseeeyyy" I whispered long and slow for him to hear and was rewarded with more sniffing under the door along with a few soft whine's. Chuckling I grabbed the knob and slowly opened the door, but only got half way through when the big English mastiff came tackling down on me. Falling to the floor laughing I was rewarded with a lot of slobbery kisses, and when the rubbing of his big head all over me was over I then looked on past the dog towards what was now my room.

Standing I headed towards this unknown territory; with my hand on the door frame I knew that I was scared. So Casey who had already been in the room for god knows how long came to stand beside me and nudged my hand. Looking down I smiled from the encouragement and continued towards the room. Awe escaped me when I took in the one and only room of the whole apartment. It was large like the rest of the apartment and had a fairly decent view as well, but this time what really got to me was the king size bed that was easy for Casey to just walk right on when he needed. "We really have to get this interior designers number" I commented to Casey who nudged my hand again and whined softly. The walls were a deep red, unlike the living room and kitchen walls, and the black brick made a beautiful almost circular design on the wall behind the black headboard of the massive bed. Walking up to the bed I felt the soft covers of the light brown and silken sheets of my new pillows and comforters.

"Wow, we sure did it in this time Casey." Speaking absently while I happened to feel yet another nudge to my hand. Looking across from me I noticed that on the far left hand side on the corner a door was there and wondered if it was the bathroom or the closet. So heading over to the door and turning the knob I was taken aback at the sheer beauty of the small but decent room. "So they did go through my underwear drawer" I commented to no one but myself and proceeded to walk into the closet that had all my clothes and shoes within it. For a closet, it was practically another house for me and Casey, because it was GI- hugic, and it even made my clothes size look small against the bare wall of racks and hangars.

"If the closet is here, then the bathroom is…" I started and popped my head out to notice another door across from me, but this time it was a French double door. So naturally I smiled wide and bounded my way towards the bathroom; which has and always will be my favorite spot in the whole apartment. Grabbing both knobs I looked down at Casey for enthusiasm which he gave with a big 'woof', and on cue I threw the doors open.

It was amazing, and to be clear it was BIG too. "Definitely my favorite part of the whole sha'bang", I commented softly to both me and Casey. Because believe it or not, but me and him are bathroom buddies. He loves to take baths so I would give him a soapy bath and then hop in the shower with my clothes on to rinse him clean, and it took up most of my weekends to do so, yet towards the end of his shower I would love to smell the lavender soap that I would put on him. I know, manly right? Anyways when I opened the doors I was surprised to call this mine, because it had a jet tub and a walk in shower with multiple faucets and brand new towels on the rack along with my cotton plush robe that was against the tiled room wall on a small hook.

"I am definitely going to have to thank this person when I am done."

It was later that evening when Casey and I had eaten to our hearts content and had settled in and were in bed listening to some Tim McGraw on my iPod all curled when I started thinking about tomorrow. "I'm a bit scared" I told Casey as I rubbed his back to which he replied by stretching out further against my legs. "I mean, if you were there…" I started, but trailed off about the events of my day in my thoughts. It was about 8:30 when I was started to bob off, so I turned my alarm clock to 7 and fell into a deep sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Hello Loves ^_^ **_

_**Now, this chapter is a combination of Chapter's 5,6 and I believe 7 of the original story. Please enjoy, and if you'd like, I would love to know how this story is going for you so far. Is it better than the original? Or is it different? How do you like it?**_

_**I do not own transformers, if I did, then I'd be living in their world.**_

* * *

The next morning when my alarm clock went off I had to slam my hand on it to stop it from it's indecent noise. Rubbing my temples from the annoying sound, I slid off the covers and got up to head off into the shower. However, when the cold water hit my back I had to gasp, and suddenly I was awake and ready for some good coffee to start off my day. Stepping out I wrapped the towel around me and then proceeded to make my way into the closet to decide what I should wear for the new day on the job. It was a little weird to think that just a few days ago, I had been working at the hospital, and now I was in this place. A military base for whatever reason… though, the more I thought about it, the more it confused me, so I stopped questioning it, and decided to just try and go with the flow. No matter how weird it is to be talking to robot aliens who call themselves Autobots. I chuckled at the thought, and just went about my closet.

Deciding that a pair of dark skinny jeans and an old black tank top that said 'Hook 'em horns' on the front with a small jacket and my loafer shoes that were my casual, was a good start to work. It was just a large garage, so the need to dress up was few and little concern to me, for I knew I had no idea what I had gotten myself into when I agreed to this.

Once in the kitchen I turned my new flat screen on and watched the news while making myself cereal and giving Casey some good Ol'roy to start off our day.

'Later this week we have been confirmed about the Texas chaos, and to take us down there now here's Vanessa Sherrill to tell us all about it, Vanessa? The TV anchor said which immediately got my attention so I turned the volume up to hear better.

Thank you John, So earlier this week there was an incident that killed and injured many people in this small town in Texas. However, we couldn't get a good interview with the people of the town, just some video clips that we are going to playback here.'

With my Coco Crispies in tow I sat down at one of the island stools and watched with concern at the news channel on the TV in front of me. The video they showed however was of many people running and screaming around like chickens with their heads cut off. Snorting I mumbled in between bites, "Great evidence guys" and continued chewing my food intently, watching to see if anyone was hurt that I knew of.

'No one knows yet on what happened here in Texas, but other scientists and detectives claim that an earthquake has come through here with minimal evidence . It is a tragic story, and when we get more news we will be sure to update you on this peculiar problem, back to you John'

Turning the TV off when my cereal was finished I then stood by the counter with my hands firmly in front of me. Thinking about the people that were killed and that I wasn't there to help them, but that instead I was a part of it. Only then did the situation occur to me. I have been here for a week! Shocked I then looked to Casey who looked back at me with a tilt to his big head. Confirming it with my cellphone, I moaned, knowing how much work would have already fired me by now and that my parents would be worried sick calling. Instead there was nothing, not one message, except for a simple text back a few months ago from my parents who had sent me a picture from their cruise on their anniversary.

"I really hope they fed you" I said putting my phone in my purse, and deciding that it was time to stop diddly daddling, before I could go, I stopped just outside, "Bye Casey-poo!" I cooed at him, and with a confirming woof, I shut the door behind me. Heading towards the elevator I then pressed the first floor and waited. When it opened I was surprised to see Lennox there who when he saw me half jumped.

"Ms. Harper, I was just coming to check to see if you were coming or not, and am very surprised to see you up so early." He commented as I got into the elevator next to him. "Please just call me Kayla, Lieutenant Lennox, plus I'm always an early riser when I have work to get done." I could only smile half-heartedly at him, and how much weirder the situation was starting to get for me. "Oh… and will is fine with me, but most people call me Lennox" He smiled sheepishly.

"No problem, so what will I be doing today?" I asked with a reassuring smile. "Well today Ratchet is just going to have you watch what he does and how he does, tomorrow he will help teach you about all of what he lectures on today, and a word of advice, don't piss him off." He chuckled, but the way he chuckled proved that Ratchet was indeed a hot-head.

"I'll try not to," I snickered slightly and the doors opened to let us out. That's when I saw the guy from yesterday and as we walked by him I ducked my head from his evil gaze. I had to admit by that point that I was too shy to confront him at the moment about it and didn't want to further any embarrassment that I had put on him as it was anyways, because he did get beat by a girl.

"I would try to keep some distance from him for a while. He's still pretty cranky about yesterday, oh and speaking of yesterday where did you get such good moves to almost take out three men?" Lennox asked with a curious gaze as we went through the gate towards the building. "My dad taught me when I was young about seduction and other mixed martial arts for both men and women" I said with a shrug when we went into a small door off to the side of the big garage. "Seduction?" Lennox questioned with concern in his eyes now, and could immediately guess that he had a family of his own and was genuinely concerned about the topic of seduction. "Seduction is a gift that you have to obtain and you probably won't get it but if I tell your wife then she definitely will."

"My wife? How did you—"

"Ow! Man that hurts!" a slightly weird and Caribbean type of voice came through from the right side of the hangar interrupting Lennox's question with metal banging. "I thought I told you two to stay out of trouble and stop messing around?" and older voice said, then more banging happened. Walking towards the corner to where the voices were I was suddenly held back, "You definitely don't want to go in there just yet," Lennox said and peeped over towards the corner but ducked when something green went flying perpendicular from us towards the other end of the hangar. "What de Hell!", said a voice similar to the firsts from the green thing that came from around the corner but stopped when he saw us. "Whoo, hey man get over here we got ourselves a fine lady friend ovah here!" the green robot that I immediately recognized as mudflap said towards me making me blush furiously. Though I had to catch myself at the realization that they were indeed robots and not humans. So me blushing was what I was assuming to be a gut reaction.

More footsteps could be heard and in a second a red one, similar to the green and a yellow one came around the corner. "Bro that's what I call hooters—" and before he could finish it the yellow robot who was named Ratchet I presumed smacked him upside the head. "Ow, man you really gotta stop doin dat!" the red one whimpered and walked off with his brother who were stealing peaks towards my already blushing face. "Sorry about that" the yellow robot said, "They just can't learn to keep their traps shut".

"It's okay," I smiled cheekily at him, "So you must be Ratchet?" I would have held my hand out to him, but at the same time, it was a little awkward at the extremity in size difference between hands and anatomy in general. "Yes, you are correct" he said in a mechanical voice before turning to Lennox who snapped out of it. "Oh yeah right, well Kayla lunch is at noon today and goes to about one thirty, so you might have to go get something to eat real quick since I doubt you brought any lunch today. If you need anything just page me through Ratchet."

"Okay" I said a little lost, wondering where he was going and why he was leaving me alone with this guy. Once he walked away and out of my view, I looked up at the large yellow robot, "So what am I learning about today?" I asked, trying to sound a little bit excited as to the current situation, and also trying to ease his oh so obvious cranky mood.

"Many things" he said, motioning for me to follow him towards the medic ward in the back of the hangar. Following behind was no easy feat, and it had me going at a light jog just to keep up. Once inside I was mesmerized by the equipment and quite curious as to what all of it was. "Whoa, is this what ya'll use for fixing each other up?" the informality and verbiage use must have confused him for a bit before he registered and nodded. "Yes everything that you will be learning about though will be through the use of regular medic supplies. It won't be easy, but I'll get you to the right knowledge within time". He said, and continued to show me around and start on the training process.

-5 Hours Later-

"So that's what happens when a decepticon bullet hits an energon tube?" I asked, staring down from my perch on another platform that was over Arcee who was getting patched up in the left forearm. "Yes, if it hit another larger energon tube, like you humans and veins then it would have killed her" Ratchet said while bending over to see the tube a little better. "Very interesting…" I said, and clicked my recorder to pause since it has been on since 8:30 and looked at the digital clock on a high ceiling. Sighing, and stretching my back I wondered about when I could leave for lunch, because sadly the cereal wasn't tiding me over for as long as I had thought; plus my afternoon snack wasn't with me so I was starving!

"Go eat your human food, I can see that you are needing it" Ratchet said, breaking my train of thought. Looking across I noticed that he was still working on Arcee and then felt a little concerned, "Will you be okay while I'm gone? You won't need me?" He chuckled, which was the first time that day and possibly the only chance that I will ever get to hear that chuckle again, because Lennox was right. He was extremely cranky and very short tempered, but I could deal with it since I dealt with hot tempered people all the time in the hospital. "Go eat, I will be fine Kayla. Besides it is a minor injury and it won't take me long to fix it up in the minutes that you are gone." "Okay, thank you Ratchet and Arcee for your time today" I said with a wave to my hand as both nodded in regards to me.

Running down the ramp I suddenly felt like I haven't eaten for days and took off towards the entrance, but forgot where I was and started to jog to find the way out. That is until I decided to round a corner and instead of finding the entrance I almost missed the foot that came crashing down in front of me. Leaping away with a yelp and falling down on my butt didn't help either, and when I heard gears shift I gasped to look up into big blue eyes. "Apologies Ms. Harper, I didn't expect to see you come around so fast" Optimus said from high above, and even though he was kneeling I couldn't help but feel like a small ant against his gi-hugic frame. "Oh, it's okay, and Optimus?" I said, while getting up off the floor to talk with him properly. "Yes Ms. Harper?" he questioned with his deep and semi-intoxicating voice.

"It's Kayla, you can call me Kayla." I smiled feeling rather confident in myself to say that and look into the Autobots leaders' face at the same time. The smile I gave felt more of a flirtascious one than that of a genuine playful smile. After all, my heart did beat rather quickly after the coolly said comment. "As you wish, Kayla" he said as if unscathed by my flirting, and then looked down to me with a confused look in his eyes, "Is there somewhere that you need to go Ms. - Kayla?"

"Huh? Oh yeah…" for a moment I forgot where I was headed and then remembered, "I've been working with Ratchet the whole time and just finally got off for lunch, but haven't been able to-" that's when my stomach growled loudly, and I looked down at it in an almost scolding way before I felt my cheeks burn slightly. "I see—"Optimus said, and went to stand, yet looking at him I was now confused as to what he meant by "I see". "Optimus?" I asked, and then the gears in his frame started to shift and in a beautiful mechanical noise he slowly transformed into the semi-truck that he once was the second time that I had met him. The window to the driver's side door went down and through the speakers I heard his voice, "I believe that through the short years that I have been around humans that you are hungry and are in need of food?" he asked curtly and I nodded, but feeling like an idiot I shook my head before saying in a quiet voice, "Yes, but what does you changing into a semi have to do anything about me being hungry?"

"In order to not waste time and to get to know a… as you humans call it 'co-worker' better" his bass of a voice rumbled through the static filled speakers. "Oh… well then I guess I will go with you"

"To where would you like to go?" he asked opening the driver's side door. "Umm, Subway?" I suggested and looked at the door frame before I hoisted myself up and into the seat. It was definitely awkward to be talking to a truck and to not only that, but be in the very talking truck itself. "Will this bother you? I mean, you are driving after all." I finally questioned with my hand on the door frame, leg propped up on the step ready to get in, but also freely willing to jump off and away as well. "I assure you that it does not bother me, and in order for me to drive, and look normal there needs to be a driver" he chuckled and it sounded quite sexy, which was scary considering he's a robot from another planet. "Okay" I said getting in, and shutting the door whilst putting my seatbelt on, he started to drive out of the garage and into the streets.

It was quite and rather awkward to be sitting in a semi-truck and not driving. It was even weirder when the steering wheel would move. "Optimus?" I started to try and break the awkward silence from its dreadful scene. "Yes, Kayla?"

"Thank you"

"What for?"

"For saving my life and for taking me out for food. If it wasn't for you I probably would have been dead and wouldn't be eating normal food like subway's sandwiches again." I chuckled at this, but felt the serious tone within my voice sink into reality. "You are welcome" Putting my hands in my lap after nodding I then looked out the window and thought about the Autobots, "How long have you been here? If you don't mind me asking." Another deep chuckle came from the speakers, "Not at all, six years ago my comrades and I landed on earth, yet for as long as I have been here I still haven't figured out all there is to know about humans. You could say that your kind is rather hard to understand, because you are just like us…"

"In more ways than one, it amazes even me that you guys have blood! Well energon to be exact." I started, slightly interrupting Optimus, "Besides your body also looks a lot like ours too".

"Good observations, I see your doctoring skills have paid off?"

"Yes, they have thank goodness or I wouldn't have made it through college"

"Why wouldn't you have made it through college?" he asked as we pulled into the subway parking lot and headed for two parking spots. "Well, college is fairly hard and back then I wasn't very good at keeping up with my studies, so I would usually fail a test when it came time for that. Yet through all of that I still seemed to press forward no matter how hard it was… I guess that's why I chose to be an ER doctor." As we came to a stop, I was about to grab the seat belt when it retracted in its own, making me freak out a bit. "It's amazing what the human mind is capable of…" he said while trailing off through the speakers. "If you need help understanding humans, then I'd be glad to show you." The sincerity was there, and the weird vibes disappeared as I felt like I was finally talking to something that was in a sense living. "I would appreciate that, but I never have to time to relax. This could possibly be the first time that I have taken a rest from my job."

"Huh…" I said in thought, and opened the door to get out, "Well I'll be right back."

"Okay" his speaker said and then the truck turned off, or so it seemed. While in line waiting my turn for a good sandwich I thought about what Optimus said on his job. The thought made my heart go out to him and slowly start to understand him more. Considering he's my boss I needed to understand him inside and out. 'I know my heart will never be the same, but I'm telling myself I'll be okay. Even on my weakest days… I get a little bit stronger!' At hearing my ringtone everyone turned to me with slight disgust at country music, and picked up my phone in an embarrassing attempt to press the green talk button. "Hello?"

"Girl, where have you been?! We have been worried sick! No calls, no anything for a week! DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED ME AND –"

"Mom… MOM!" I screamed at my phone, and made an even bigger fool of myself. Although at the same time I kept thinking about what the hell I was going to tell her. "What? I'm sorry okay… it's just that me and your father haven't heard anything for about a week now, and were getting worried. Especially when we called your work and they said that you went on a leave that you were working somewhere else" her slowly cracking voice said as the sobs started to pour from her mouth, almost making me cry as well. "Sorry, it's just that I have been busy and haven't checked my phone in a long time. I am okay though, currently working for an army base since they needed me up here and it has good pay—"

"Wait where are you, exactly?" her motherly voice asked me as if I was a teenager again. "I- I'm in Milwaukee" I whispered. "You're where! What are doing there, and with what military branch are you working with? If your father finds out—"

"He won't, besides I'll be back before you know it. And you know those robots from the Chicago destruction in 2008?"

"Are you telling me that you are working for them?" she asked in a low concerned voice.

"Yep, and I have two bosses."

"Wow, well when you get the chance call your father, you know how worried he gets when you don't call." She said dismissing the fact that what I had told her was huge. "Will do. Hey I got to go, I'm at Subways"

"Okay sweetheart… Love you, and be careful"

"Love you too mom" I said, and hung up to order my food. When I was done eating around 1 in the afternoon I headed back towards Optimus and I soon felt sad for keeping him waiting for so long. So knocking on the passenger's side door I took in a deep breath, "I want to be the passenger if you don't mind." The door swung open and I got in. Once inside I heard the truck rumble, "How was your food?" he asked. The sudden voice made me jump slightly in my seat, "It was good, and sorry for keeping you so long. I should have just eaten food at the new apartment."

"It's okay, I don't mind waiting. Besides it was a chance to get to know you."

"Yeah, so what am I really doing here? Like what is my job to be exact?"

A sigh hissed through the air conditioning system, "Since we have missions constantly now, and are far away. I want you to help train new recruits."

"What exactly would I be training them in?" I asked tilting my head to the side to rest in against my hand that was against the door frame to hold me up. "Mostly how to repair us and some of it will have to be combat skills. That is why once you are done with Ratchet then you will go to Ironhide to learn about the workings of the guns and how to shoot. We understand that you can't teach them everything since you are of no military background, but we know that from the skill that we have heard of that you can do this" He complimented in a reassuring voice. "Is everybody gossiping about that?" I crossed my arms and sat up in the seat to stare at the radio. "It is a rumor going around that you have skills of seduction. However I have not seen you use them as of yet."

Face palming my forehead I shook my head, "It's not a skill, I know I said that, but it's easy to acquire… something that you Autobots may not understand. I wouldn't mind showing you, but let's let the rumors die down first beforehand."

It was quite in the cabin before the radio static showed up again, "understood" he said, and that's when I leaned back into the seat to rest my body from standing for so long. The silence went on between us, but it wasn't as awkward as it was the first time, because now we just drove without any need to talk.

"Kayla?" I heard through the speakers. "Hmm?" I asked with my eyes closed, and breathing evenly.

"What does it feel like?" he questioned out of the blue. I don't remember saying anything about the question, but I do remember it. The cabin was nice and warm, and I could hear the air conditioning going as I slowly dozed off to a deep sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

"Kayla" someone said, feeling a hand on my shoulder, I moved towards the warm hand. Opening my eyes I was half expecting me to be in my bed next to my ex-husband, but when a man with blue eyes and jet black hair showed up next to me I freaked. "I am so sorry!" I said shooting up from the seat, and then looked around to see that I was still in the passenger side of Optimus. "It's okay, you should probably get back to work though" his deep and familiar voice said making my brow furrow in confusion at the voice.

"How—you remind me of someone I know, do I know you from anywhere?" I asked pointing to the man who I now noticed was muscular and perfect looking in every way. It almost made me drool just looking at him, "Yes, you do know me, I am—"

"Optimus, Lennox is looking for you!" a solider said from afar, and when I looked back to the guy, he was gone and the static from the radio came on. "I am sorry, but I am being called", Optimus said, and I nodded grabbing the handle to the door and opening it. Stepping out I then watched him transform and believe me it was beautiful to watch. The shifting of gears and the figure that was being made out of it was just breathtaking every time. "Well… I had a good time, thanks for the lunch" I smiled up at him, "We should do it again sometime".

"Yes, it did give me a chance to stop for a moment, so thank you," he said to me, with relief filled eyes. Nodding in an awkward goodbye I then put my hands behind my back and shifted my feet, "No problem, anytime" I said, and then stalled trying to think of something intelligent to say after seeing what I had just seen, but coming up with nothing, "I guess I should go now?"

"Yes…" he said kind of awkwardly, and from the avoiding gaze I knew he was kind of bashful too, even if the gesture was rather off putting. "Well… Goodbye" I said with a wave and started to walk backwards towards Ratchets place. "Goodbye, Kayla" he said, and I smiled turning around and walked away from him.

For the rest of the day I talked with Ratchet about the autobot and decepticon anatomy. Although it was very interesting, I had to admit that it was rather difficult to concentrate when I had the encounter with Optimus stuck in my head, and that gorgeous man. "Kayla?" Ratchet said, breaking my concentration for the fifth time that day. "Sorry… again" I said biting my bottom lip to keep from drifting into la-la land anymore, but when Ratchet stopped to ask what was keeping my mind at bay I told him the events of the day, and all the while he nodded.

"It seems to me that the man must have been Optimus's holoform"

"Holoform?" I questioned and leaned over the railing confuse and yet intruiged to know more. "Yes, the holoform is what used to help us interact with humans. It has all the sensory and feel of what a human does and is." He said looking to me with brow's furrowed, "It seems to me that you're attracted to Optimus."

Blushing like made and standing up straight I then shook my head faster than a bullet to try and deny it, "I am not attracted to him, besides how do you know?"

"Your hormones show it" he said, going back to what he was telling me earlier, and ignoring it like it was just some bug on his shoulder. The heat rose in my face, and I pouted to keep from talking and trying to deny the inevitable even more.

"Damn hormones" I said when I got back to my apartment, and shut the door. Only to be greeted by Casey who started rubbing his head in my knees. "Hey sweetie, do you need to go outside?" I said, totally forgetting about the day's events and grabbing the leash from the coat rack. Once hooked up I then headed out of the hotel, and Casey who was sweet all around smelled happily through the hotel and in every crack and crevice. When I got back out into the cool October air of Milwaukee, I proceeded to walk Casey to the park. Casey was by far the best dog, because he walked heel to claw next to me and kept a good pace, until we got to the dog park. Stepping onto the grass I let him roam free, knowing that he would not go far. Sitting on the bench, I let my body relax, and when I heard my ringtone, I groaned.

"Hello?"

"Hey Kayla!" a high-pitched happy voice came through the other side, and knowing that it was Mia I sat up quickly into a sitting position.

"Mia? College Mia?" I asked, very surprised that she of all people would call out of the blue after so many years away. "Yeah! Your mom told me that you were in Milwaukee and I wanted to know if I could come up there and live with you for a couple of months to help get you settled in?" Thinking about my job, and the one room apartment I then decided that it was a good idea and looking to Casey who was rolling around in the grass I then smiled, "Yeah, sure why not? It'll be just like old times."

"Awesome, I can't be there right now, but I will in say six weeks?"

"Sure, honestly I'm glad you called, because I need someone right now to be with me other than my co-workers."

"Good, well I'll get back to you later because I have a patient who needs cleaning up."

"Kay, bye"

"Bye!"

Turning my phone off I looked up to see Casey make his way towards me in a ready to go mood. Once back in the now warm apartment I then headed to the kitchen to make myself some roasted chicken ramen noodles, and when Casey had been fed and the noodles had cooled off enough I went to the couch to sit down to watch one of my favorite movies that was on. "Hope floats tonight Casey!" I yelled to the dog that stopped drinking water to cuddle with me in front of the TV.

Giggling like a little girl, I turned the volume up, and watched it as I had when I was a little kid. Hoping that I would get a good guy that would treat me like that. I must not have made it through the movie, because I woke up with a jolt and everything was dark and cold. The fur at my feet was breathing heavily until I felt a wet warm tongue lick my toes. "Gross!" I squealed, stood with a yawn and a stretch to walk over towards the kitchen to put my bowl in the sink, and then walked towards the bedroom where Casey diligently followed me into bed. Once in bed I looked to my alarm clock and was surprised when it read 11:37, "Wow and here I thought it was going to be 2:00 in the morning… guess we have more sleep", I sighed, and turned off the light.

"Goodnight Casey…" I mumbled as I lay down in the cool comforters of the bed, and upon hearing a deep sigh next to me, I drifted off into a very deep sleep.

It has been a month since Mia called and frankly, I was positive that by now if she hadn't then she wouldn't be coming anytime soon. I had also finished my training with Ratchet and instead of training with Ironhide; my next autobot was Optimus Prime. It was odd, because after knowing about the autobots for a month now, I realized that Ironhide was sort of jerk, and repeatedly refused to train me for whatever reason.

Ever since that day I hadn't spent any of my lunches with him and he had no time to really talk with me either. So to sum it up, I was excited when I heard that I was to train with him next. Especially since Ratchet found out about me liking him, and in the last month I had to confirm my fears that I indeed had a crush on the autobot leader. I also started to become accustomed to the place, which helped when I couldn't find my way out, and when I wanted to have a chat with Lennox or one of the autobots.

It was a Thursday when I started training with Optimus and going into the practice room was like walking in on an Olympic Gymnastic training facility. "Wow…" I trailed as I took in the abnormally large place, and wondered how they managed to fit this into the building plans. Hearing footsteps, I looked behind me to see Optimus walk towards me to then bend down on one knee. "Hey Prime" I said with a wave and went to walk over towards the wall to set my stuff down. Taking my jacket off showed what I was wearing; an outfit that complimented my petite yet lithe figure well. "H-hello Kayla" he cleared his throat with metal clanks and looked away from my black yoga pants and turquoise tank top.

Walking back over to him, I then looked into his eyes with a smile, "So, what are we doing today?" Looking back to me with an iron face that showed no emotions, he then stood to his full height and transformed. Once in the semi- peterbilt form that I figured him out to be; a man stepped out of the truck. In that moment, my confidence went down as I stared at the man in front of me. He was exactly the same guy that held my shoulder back on my first day.

"O-Optimus?" I said shifting my feet nervously, and playing with my hair band on my left wrist reminded me that my hair still needed to be put up. Grabbing my hair I started to put the dark brown mass into a tight low ponytail. "Yes Kayla?" he asked standing a foot away now.

My breath hitched when I saw those blue eyes and I cleared my throat. "So, what are we going to be doing?" I breathed out trying oh so desperately to regain control of my oh so obvious hormones. "Well, I had plans to practice fighting in case of a human that you'd have to fight against", he said going into his thoughts. "What do you mean?"

"It has happened in the past, and I do everything I can to make sure that my comrades are safe…" he trailed in thought. "I thought that I was just teaching newcomers?"

"You are" he said coming back to the actual conversation, and then rubbed his temples with a sigh. "Okay, so I am teaching newcomers how to fight one on one combat if that may ever arise? What about a Decepticon attack?"

"Decepticons are something that I will teach you later. As of now, I am going to teach you people to people. That is why I am in this form," he gestured to himself. "But isn't a holoform like a see through projector of what your human form looks like?"

"No" he said, and put his hand out. Something that rather freaked me out, since I have been with the autobots for a long time now, and frankly wasn't able to grasp the fact that the autobot leader was in human form. Shaking it, I was amazed by the reality of it and turned his hand over to look at it. For a long time I stared at it fascinated, and when I was finally done assessing and reaffirmed that his body was indeed real I looked up at him. In an amused way, he looked back to me with those blue eyes.

Stretching my hand out I touched his cheek, but when I finally realized what I had done I quickly brought it back; blushing like there was no tomorrow. "Sorry…"

"It's quite alright, in fact it wasn't an unpleasant feeling" he smiled sweetly back, but seemingly unscathed by the event. "Soo how about getting started?" I suggested, and he lighted up even more.

"Okay" he said and walked towards me.

Later that afternoon, when we were really getting into it, "Good, you are definitely improving better than I thought" he said with bluish black sweat dripping down his face like in the Gatorade commercials. Which was kind of cool to look at it; since even in human form he was still cooler than hell.

"Thanks, but I wasn't that bad… was I?" I gasped towards him as he chuckled, handing me a towel while deactivating the holoform and having the semi-truck transform into the giant robot I was used to. "No, you did pretty well for a first time" his deep voice rumbled with a content chuckle, teasing me while his hand came down to pick me up. With my stuff in tow I stopped and leaned against his hand, "hmm, does the great autobot leader have a sense of humor now?" I said with a rise of an eyebrow towards him.

Smiling when he hesitated I got on and grabbed onto his thumb. When he stood to his full height, I watched his eyes as he flicked them towards me. "It is another part of me that many do not know " he said and started to walk towards the hangar again. "I'm glad to be a part of that bit that knows the real Optimus" I smiled up at him as we came into Ratchets medical station. Who happened to hear the last couple of words as we walked in? "Ahh the two have finally come in from a rather noisy practice?" he said not looking up from his work as Optimus set me down on the platform.

"It was a very successful day with Kayla, and surprisingly I have to agree with the soldiers out front. She is very skilled, even for an amatuer."

"Even in the seduction portion of her skills?" Ratchet asked looking to me with a smirk in his eyes, and heading towards me to assess any damage. "God…" I said, putting my hands over my face against the railing. "I still haven't learned about that skill, but she did promise me that she would show me," Optimus said with a hint of humor overlapping his deep voice. "Really guys?" I said standing up and was about to give them a long lecture until my ringtone went off and they both looked at me with confusion written in their faces. Holding up a finger and putting my elbows on the railing; I answered the unknown caller. "Hello?" I asked, and was rewarded with a giggle on the other end.

"So guess where I am at?" Mia's high-pitched voice said through the phone. "You're here? Now?" I asked with worry written on my face. "Yeah, is this a bad time?" she asked worried.

"Uhmm no, but where are you exactly?"

"At the airport and I need you to pick me up if you can."

"Hmm... yeah, I'll be there in like 20 minutes."

"Alright, see you soon!" she giggled happily, and shutting it off I then looked to Optimus and Ratchet who were having a staring contest. To which I presumed to be some telepathic communication going on between them. "Hey… guys… I need a favor…?" I smiled sweetly yet innocently as they looked back to me with concern written all over there face.

"What type of favor?" Ratchet asked, and then Sideswipe came in at the moment. "Or I can just give Sideswipe a break?" I asked with a smile as he turned to me with a questioning look. "A break sounds good" he said, and then turning to Optimus to do some weird wired lingo. "Okay let's go" he said turning back to me to transform into his car form.

"Thanks again Sides" I said, sitting in the passengers seat next to the perfectly sculpted holoform of sideswipe.

"No problem, I needed to get the hell out of there anyways or else I would go mad, so who's this friend of yours again that we are picking up?" his boyish voice said, and frankly he looked about the age of a kid fresh out of highschool. "Her name is Mia, and she is a nurse at another hospital in Dallas. We went to college together, but whatever you do don't mention anything about college please?" I pleaded. "Sure, whatever you say…" He said with his eyes on the road, speeding through the traffic like there wasn't anything easier, "Could I talk about you and Optimus?"

"What?" I whipped my head towards him in a flash and saw his pearl white smile shine slowly into a sly smirk. "Everyone knows about you and Optimus, I was just wondering when you guys would actually be official?" he asked as if he was a regular guy friend, which in reality he was, but the fact that he brought it up as 'official' was a little strange to hear from an autobot. "Umm…" I blushed thinking about the sparring practice that we had earlier that day.

-FLASHBACK-

'You arms need to be positioned like this' Optimus said, with his chest against my back and holding my arms in a would be captured position, if Optimus was the capturer. 'Okay so if anyone is ever in a situation like this then I do this?' I said and used my left arm to elbow him in the ribs and my right arm to spin him into a deadlock to where I was the one who was on the offense side. 'Good' he said, 'but what can you do when I do this?'

In a flash my back was against the floor and Optimus had one hand grabbing my wrists and the other across my neck with his left knee in the left side of my hip. Suprisingly it wasn't something that I could obviously get out of, and struggled a bit to get out. When I gave up I looked into the blue eyes that were only inches from my face, and even though a holoform doesn't need to breath I could feel his cool breath brush against my lips.

Both of us breathed hard as we stared at eachother, and until my mind came back did I actually see realization in Primes eyes as to the situation. Getting up off the floor and hearing a cough from him did I look over to see a faint purple blush creep across his face. He's shy! I thought and felt the confidence rise in my throat at the cuteness of his face when he finally gathered enough sense to look back at me. ' Sorry about that, I honestly didn't mean to put you into a controversial situation' his deep voice said, and with breathing so hard all I could do was nod and smile.

~END OF FLASHBACK~

"Kayla?" Sideswipe said as he waved his hand in front of my face. "Huh?" I asked still in a daze; until I actually looked out the window did I realize that we were at the airport and that it was raining. "We're here, hurry up and get your friend so that I can dry off as soon as possible" he said in a frustrated tone as he watched the rain pour onto him. "Okay, I'll be right back" I said and opened the door to run out into the freezing rain. When I finally found Mia I was surprised to see her look the same as the last time I saw her. "Kayla?" she said in a disbelieving voice and smiled happily at me when I nodded, "Oh my God! You look amazing!" she cried and hugged me tightly; squeezing the air out of me. When she finally let go she looked me up and down with her hands grabbing my arms tightly, "You need to tell me your secret " she laughed nervously.

"Wish I could, but It's something that I'm not even sure I know the answer to" I smiled when I looked my friend up and down. She wore her usual designer jeans with a LOW cut V-neck shirt that fitted her abnormally large boobs. Her black hair was cut to her shoulders and she let her bangs grow since the last time I saw her. Suprisingly with her being here I felt excited, because I knew that she would help me.

"How about we talk in the car?" I suggested, and she lit up with excitement as she grabbed her huge purple purse and Louis Vutton suitcase. "Wow!" she said as we got out into the cool air and looking at where her Brown eyes were looking to I smirked. In front of us was a huge crowd of mostly young women and businessmen talking around Sideswipe and to the holoform who was enjoying all of the attention. "Hey Sides!" I yelled at him, and when he looked over he waved back and made his way through the crowd.

"Hey Kayla, is this Mia?" he asked with a smile and a shake of her hand, which looking past him gave us the looks from many angry girls. "Mia this is Sideswipe, sorry for late intro's" I said and let them converse. She blushed brightly and shook his hand with a shy "Hi" and then Sideswipe took her bags and put them in his trunk. When we got into the car she turned to me with the little private conversation we had before Sides came through to the drivers side. "Is this what you've been hiding from your parents all this time?" she giggled towards me when Sides got in.

"What do you mean?" I asked confused."I mean are you two dating?" she said a little loud for both of us to hear, and in an instant Sides stopped the car to turn around in his seat. "You think I am dating her?" he said with a snicker which kind of hurt but I knew he was just joking, "No way, she's too uncool"

It was my turn to snicker, because for an autobot to say 'uncool' was just unheard of so I giggled like mad at his comment. "Uncool? Really Sides?" I said towards him with a sharp, ' shut the hell up' look to which he gladly did and went back to driving. "Okay… so what is going on?" she asked clearly confused by now. "Well… I got a job… and that's pretty much it, besides Sides being just a co-worker."

"Ohh…" she said, and looked to Sides with an admirable and devilish smile. When we got back to the apartment/base I helped her to my apartment which she thoroughly enjoyed, especially Casey. "So let me get this straight, your work gave this apartment for you for free? No charge for your stay?" she asked, when we had gotten her all straightened out on the couch, and her stuff in my closet. "Yep" I said, working on ordering chinese for the night, "They are very generous".

"Hmm, I gotta get me some of them back at the hospital if you know what I mean" she said with a smile, and then her ringtone went off. Picking it up I knew right away that it was her husband and let her have her long lovey dovey talk with him. Thinking about today I wondered how I was going to tell the base about the unexpected visitor, but knew that if sides went with me then the rumor would definitely spread so I groaned and rested myself on the counter. "Great… " I sighed and bit my lip for comfort to not go into a freak out of trying to explain why she had come. "What's wrong?" Mia asked as she came back from the bedroom.

"Oh I am just worrying about how I'm going to tell my boss that I have a visitor for a month."

"Hmm… How about you just talk with him about it, I am sure he will understand."

"You don't understand though, because I have two that I have to run it by" I said looking up at her from my head resting on my arms. "Oh…" she whispered, " I wouldn't worry about that until tomorrow though sweetheart, because right now we are going to eat some chinese and then watch some good old 8o's movies" she smiled as she brought dvd's from behind her back that she had been hiding from me.

Thinking, I slowly smiled and straightened my back out, "You're absolutely right, I have a visitor and I need to spend some time with her first, instead of worrying about work that can wait till tomorrow"

"Right!" she laughed and helped me grab the chinese food, so we could eat on the couch on the outside of Casey who really wanted some crab Rangoon. Turning the TV on and relaxing back to watch some Breakfast Club with Mia and Casey reminded me of the times we had when we were in college and how she helped me through stressful times when I couldn't get my head on straight. 'Thank you mia' I thought to her as the movie started.

"Lennox?" I knocked on the door to his office the next morning. "What can I do you for Kayla?" he smiled brightly at me, and I walked in slowly twiddling my fingers together behind my back.

"Can we talk?"

"That's why you're here right?"

"Well yes, but it's concerning a friend…"

"Oh…" he trailed face getting serious again, "Is it about the one that you brought to your apartment yesterday?" Knowing that he already knew I took a deep breath in, "I'm not going to make any excuses and get right to the point, I needed someone to help me get settled in and she will be staying for a month. I was hoping that you would allow this?"

Awaiting his answer in a silent stare he then sighed and rubbed his temples, " I am very glad that you have asked permission, and I understand that this is pretty hard to get used to in the month that you have been here. So, she can stay for a month just don't bring her into work and whenever Mearing comes in keep her as far away from this place as possible."

"Who's Mearing?" my nose crinkled at trying to say her name. "Mearing is the National Intelligence director, and she isn't someone that you'd want to piss off. Not to mention the fact that she's already mad about you staying here" Lennox said looking to me and then back to his work. "Oh… well when is she going to show up?"

"In about a week, so just make sure your guest is within a mile of here," he said dismissing me in a firm tone of voice. "Will do " I said happily and walked to about halfway to grab the handle of the door, "and Lennox?"

He looked up again, "Thanks a ton for giving me permission" I smiled and with a 'anytime' from him I shut the door and walked towards the autobot area. Where Optimus was supposed to be, but when I got there only Sides his brother Sunny and Mirage were there talking among themselves. "Hey guys, have you seen Optimus?" I called up to them, and all three looked down at me. "He is in the medical bay with Ratchet" Mirage's Spanish accent came through his vocal processers. "Yeah I believe he is discussing issues with Ratchet about something, but we aren't allowed to go in until he is done" Sides said with a roll of his eyes, and a hmpf from me made me think about what they would be talking about, so I headed towards the practice area to warm up before another sparring practice began.

Once inside I was quite surprised to find bumblebee fighting some invisible force. Upon seeing me he stopped, and waved happily with a small chirp. "Hi bee, what are you doing here?" I asked as he made his way towards me to bend down to my height. "Just practicing, why?" he wondered and I smiled at hearing his actual voice. Since only being here for a month I didn't get much time with bumblebee, but I quickly figured out that he was faking that he couldn't talk and frankly I told him to talk to me for real or I won't be his friend. Surprisingly it worked because the next day he started talking to me like a normal person/autobot. "Oh, well usually me and Optimus practice here" I shrugged and put my stuff down in the corner. This time I had a regular tight fitting T-shirt and a pair of Capri like yoga pants with my hair neatly up into a high ponytail. Bee chirped and lightly tapped his finger against me, "I heard you guys have a secret fling, is this true?"

Smiling I shook my head, "Nah, we are just friends."

"Oooh" his eyes got wide in sudden realization, and he attempted to make a blush, but when it did not work, I told him that I got his meaning. "I think you guys would look good together," he said, and I shook my head, "He is an autobot leader with responsibilities and I am just a regular human; what could I possible give him? Besides I have only talked with him maybe ten times within the past month" I interjected him. "Maybe if you get to know him better…" he started in thought.

"I don't know…"

Five minutes of silence later-

"I can tell you like him, even though you try and deny it a lot," he said after some time of silent thoughts between us had past. " I know…" I said and looked up to see him sit down on the ground in front of me. Knowing that he would offer me comfort I headed towards his legs and sat down against the inside of his right leg; burying my head in my pulled up knees.

"What does it feel like?" Bee said quietly. "What do you mean?" I said turning my head towards him. "To be in love?"

"I'm not 'in love', I just have crush that's all."

"Even so, what does it feel like?"

Thinking back to my ex-husband brought bitter hatred towards the subject and shook my head from the horrible thoughts. When I thought about Optimus, I knew that sickly feeling and decided to go with that, "Well if you like someone then your heart starts to race when they are around and your mind goes blank. For me my mind goes through twenty million different options as to how this would work and then it just shuts down and does its own thing. A very fascinating subject to say the least."

"Hmm… sounds interesting" he said, and looked up to see Optimus walk in from his little talk with Ratchet.

"Hey Prime" I smiled from my seat, and when he just nodded, I knew something was up. Looking to Bee I nodded that he should go and the last words that he whispered to me was, 'I want to have that feeling someday' which made me smile towards the young bot who still had plenty to learn. When he was gone and it was just Optimus and me I walked over towards his frame and laid a hand against his leg to try to get his attention and soothe him at the same time. When his eyes flickered down to me, I knew I had him, "What happened?" was all I managed, and mentally cursed myself for saying something so stupid.

"It is something that is hard to explain" his deep voice rumbled from above. "Try me."

With a deep sigh escaping his vents, he backed up to transform into a truck and had the driver's side pop open within in minutes. "I need to talk with you in private…," his voice said through the static radio. "Okay…?" I said, a little confused as to why, and hopped into the driver's seat to have the seat belt buckle me in. Something that I might never get used to, and frankly do not want to. "Is it something that I did?" I whispered in a small voice.

"No…" was all he said before the truck moved onto the main road towards the highway, "It's just something that I want to talk with you in private about."


	5. Chapter 5

_**Hello Loves, everything in here you might want to reread, it's a bit different than chapter 5 and contains at least three more chapters from the original. Of course though, if you want to get first looks at the story right when I finish, head to my site, it's where I tend to post first. Secondly, feel free to review, you know I love em, so it may help me figure out what else I may write within this story.**_

_**Disclaimer**_

_**Enjoy.**_

* * *

The silence dragged on ever since we left the hangar. My Patience was starting to run thin, "Optimus, what's wrong?" I asked. A big sigh escaped the air vents as he pulled off the main road and towards some lake. When we had finally stopped in a deserted and slightly forested place, he let me out to transform. Once done transforming, he then knelt down to pick me up. Once on his hand he then hoisted me up towards his shoulder. Without thinking, I caressed my fingers lightly over his metal plating on his shoulder; a soothing technique that my mother taught me.

"What's wrong?" I whispered once again, and felt him shift beneath me. "A week from now there will be a mission, and it is very dangerous" he sighed with a glance over at me; who just nodded in understanding. "Go on…" I silently pushed him into saying more.

"There is no other way, but we need you to go with us on this mission."

"So, that's what you and Ratchet were discussing?"

"Yes, but it is more over the concern of your safety and training" he glanced over once more. Twiddling my fingers in my lap I thought about it, "Why can't Ratchet go?"

"Ratchet cannot cure everyone at once," he said in a serious tone of voice that left me shivering from the bass. "Oh…" I thought, "I will go if you will let me" I said to him calmly, even though deep inside I was nervously screaming at myself. "I thank you for allowing me the decision, but it is not a choice Kayla," his voice rumbled when he said my name, "It is something that even I am not fond of, but I promise that I will protect you with my life."

Knowing the full on sincerity and honesty in his voice hit me like a ton of bricks that warmed my heart to the core, so I slightly leaned over and gave him a kiss on his warm metal cheek. He must have felt it because he shook ever so slightly and looked my way without turning his head too much as to knock me off. "I believe you will Optimus" I whispered, looking into his eyes that widened in depth a bit, but before I could say more he looked forward and stood in deep thought for some time. And I let him, watching his face as it held the deep thought until I too decided to look away and into the lasting sunset. "That is what I wanted to talk with you about Kayla. To see if you were okay with something like this, even if I am not" he said after a long while, and I had to make a hum in the back of my throat afterwards in a questioning sound. "I am not okay with sending a new experienced and untrained human into a battle that isn't theirs" he spoke, and I nodded, "I understand" I spoke calmly, continuing to rub his shoulder plate with my hand.

-Later in the afternoon-

When we had finally come back from a nice relaxing day, we were suddenly bombarded with a hectic facility of people running about franticly. "What's going on?" I asked Optimus who's eyes were darkened. "There is nothing to worry about," he said calmly looking down to me from his hand "It is mostly about getting prepared for the mission."

"Oh…"

"Optimus, where have you been, Lennox has been—"Ironhide came bounding over, but stopped when he saw me. Something must have caught in his wires because soon he was smiling small and wicked towards Optimus who just shook his head. "Think reasonably Ironhide" was all Prime said, before he took me over towards Bumblebee who was listening to some Katy Perry through his speakers. "Thanks for today Optimus" I smiled up at him as he let me off his hand and onto Bumblebees shoulder. Prime nodded and then walked away. I was deep in thought until I heard a "ahem" from behind me, and looked to see Bee with a knowing smirk, and an eye shield raised. "What?" I asked, and received a cough from him, "All we talked about was next week's mission."

"Right and how does that blush go again?" he asked with a quirk and smiles to the side, making me blush even more about the kiss to the cheek. However, I stood my ground and did not say anything; I even made the zip to my mouth throw away the key signal towards him. "Fine, but I want to hear about it later!" he pointed his finger at me and started walking. A couple minutes of silent walking and we came upon a busy Lennox who looked up to see the both of us. "Hey, did you find out about the mission?" Lennox asked, and I just nodded.

"Okay well, I guess we will discuss more at the party," he said as a solider called to him from his desk. "Okay… Bye?" I waved as Bee took off towards the practice facility. "What was that all about?" I asked Bee once we made it to the facility and sat down. "It's a birthday party for the President who is having an all-out bash," he said replaying in his mind the information. "Oh… are you guys invited too?" I questioned with a finger towards Bee who nodded. "All of us are, and you can bring guests. That's why we were all hoping that you and Optimus would go together."

"Hmm… Well I have a visitor I guess I can bring her…" I trailed in thought and then heard chirping whirrs from Bee's voice box. "What's her name?" he asked happily, and I just shook my head. "She's my College friend, Mrs. Mia Sandreas" I made sure to over use the word "Mrs." when explaining that she was not at any time available.

"Man…" he said and became depressed immediately, to which I could not help but pat his hand reassuringly. "You'll find somebody someday" I smiled.

"You think so?" he questioned, piping up again like a two year old throwing a temper tantrum to then get his favorite candy. "I know so" I repeated my dad's infamous words, but thought about the party again, "So is this party formal?"

"Yes, it is very formal, but if you want I can pick you and your friend up?" Bee suggested happily. "Sure that'd be great, so when are you going to pick us up?"

"Around six forty-five"

"Six?" I said in a 'really' kind of voice.

"Yup, since it takes forever to get there" He said starting to dance while turning up his radio to 'We R Who We R' by Ke$ha. Looking back at him with a shake to my head I then looked up at the electronic clock to see that it was already four fifteen in the afternoon. "Holy Cappolies!" I screamed which scared Bee, and took off for the apartment to get ready for the party. Once in my apartment I screamed to Mia who was already sitting on the couch with Cheetos from the vending machine in her hands. Looking over the couch to me with cheeto'ed fingers in her mouth she managed a 'What's up' before popping her fingers out of her mouth. "We have a party to get ready for that's what's up" I said rushing around and feeding Casey who said hello to me as soon as I walked in the door. "Party?" she half jumped to turn herself around on the couch to listen better, "Where?"

"It's the president's birthday like a Red Carpet premier but a huge ass party," I said rushing into the bedroom towards the closet to search for clothes. "A-mazing, how did you get invited?" she asked rushing to help, and quickly finding her outfit while I was still searching for mine. "My work, but we are getting picked up around six forty-five."

"Why so early?"

"No idea ask my chauffer" I smiled at the mention of Bee.

"You have a limo?" she widened her eyes at me.

"Nope, but I can't find a damn dress that's formal enough for the president's party!" I said frustrated yet happy at the same time. We sat for a minute just staring at the mess and at each other until we laughed at all of it. "I have the perfect dress for you, and for that boy you obviously want to show off to" she winked to me, and as I scoffed at her for figuring me out so soon she handed me the dress and we soon got ready. The doorbell to the apartment rang twice before Mia decided to get it while I finished framing my hair around my face with a straightener.

"Kay! Your chauffer is here!" Mia yelled with a giggle in the end, and a small country "hi" towards Bee who I was sure was more than happy to see some other girl besides me and other military females. Finishing my face and hair, I looked over myself in the mirror once and then nodded in a pleasing manner towards the reflection. Putting on my shoes I then grabbed my purse with my phone, and lip-gloss in it just in case I needed a touch up… and money because you never know just how expensive a party can get. 'Woof' Casey barked at me and I looked over to see him roll on his belly; a sign I took to be his approval.

"Thanks Casey" I smiled and then headed towards my kitchen, which I was sure to have two young minds being all flirty with each other. When I walked in I was very surprised to see them just sitting there having a normal conversation, and smiled towards them getting along well. I was also slightly surprised at how mature Bee's holoform looked. His hair was of course blonde with blue eyes and a lightly olive tan skin to compliment his dimples. He also looked at least two years older than I did, which was true in reality, but in mind, he was still a seventeen-year-old high school boy who still had a lot to learn. It also did not help that he was wearing a black buttoned down shirt with black pants and a yellow striped tie. However at hearing the clicks and clacks of my heels they both turned and smiled wide, but Bee on the other hand nodded fast in a 'He will definitely love it manner'.

"Looking good girl!" Mia said, and went to grab my arm, "So we ready to go? Because I am totally ready to get this party started!"

"Sure, Bee you ready to go?" I asked him as he casually sat at my island barstools.

"I was born ready" he smiled and looked to Mia who giggled cutely, making me role my eyes.

"Come on Mia you have a husband" I said to her as we headed for the lobby, but once I got there I noticed something was off and looked towards the front desk. There sat the guy I had beat up a month ago, but when he saw me he cringed a bit looking away before I headed out the door with an apologetic smile. Bee went to get the car while Mia and I were waiting.

"I'm pregnant, and it's not my husband's baby," Mia said with a hopeful smile and a slight rub to her pink dress that she wore, "I haven't told him yet, but here is the problem… I do not want it to end and if I tell him then he will for sure leave me. What do I do Kayla?"

I was speechless and was staring at her with a little disappointment, "Honestly I'm gonna say that that was fucking stupid, but it's your decision and being your friend I will do everything in my power to help you."

Before we could continue, the conversation Bee showed up and as he opened, the door Mia and I just stared at each other in silence, "Are we going to get in?" Bee asked impatiently. "Yeah…" I said and let her get in first. Once in I tried not to think about it too much and I trusted her, but I also knew that sometimes she had issues when it came to men. I guess you could say that it was her punishment, but as we drove the thought dissipated and we tried to have a good car-ride there.

"So Mia, what do you do as a Profession?" Bee asked. "Oh, I work at a hospital in Dallas as a part time nurse" She smiled. We pretty much had conversations back and forth about Mia's life and mine when it came to being in college together. A touchy subject to say the least, but it did take up all of our free time, because we were soon stopping in front of a big building. That even though it was the president's birthday had no press or anybody really, except for the valet parking to which Bee agreed to drive his own car to the parking lot. "Wow this place is amazing; can I say that again?" Mia said in a sweet southern accent as she admired the place. "You sure can" I said, and noticed my southern accent coming out as well. While finding our way to the party we ran into Sides holoform with another girl next to him, and found it to be Arcee going as his escort home. Since he did not like using the computer much to find places he had Arcee do it for him. She was rather stunning in a simple purple dress with long black hair and blue eyes. She also had light make up on that complimented her frail small face. "You look good" she commented in a gracious tone, and a small smile to add to the compliment. "Thank you, and so do you" I smiled politely, and got in line behind them to get my bag checked and the correct information to get in. However when I got to the guest list guy I had troubles finding my card and even though I told him a thousand times that I worked with NEST he still didn't believe me, and on the last try I was about to give up. "Excuse me, but these two ladies are with me" I heard a deep rumble from behind me, and looked to see Optimus looking deliciously handsome in a black suit with a blue and red tie.

"Right away sir" the guy who would not let us in then turned a dial that did. Once through I introduced Mia to Optimus who then greeted her with good and polite respectful manner, which was his norm. Although it immediately charmed Mia, who in turn was getting all flirty with him, and making me very jealous at the way she clung to him like a rag doll attached to a firework on the fourth of July. As they headed towards the main room with me, trailing behind them, I then decided to find someone more suitable for me to talk to about my problems and upon seeing a man that looked very similar to the one that had treated me when I was in the attack a month ago I headed over towards him.

"Hi" I said, and he looked at me and nodded. "Hello Kayla" his familiar voice said, and upon staring at him he then clarified for me, "Yes, I am Ratchet, this is my holoform."

"Oh…" I said and took a champagne glass that was being offered from waiters. The party however was large and full of others dancing to modern music, so it was somewhat hard to hear through all of the noise. "What brings you here?" Ratchet asked, and looked over my shoulder at Optimus and Mia talking, "It's him isn't it?"

Nodding I then walked over to where he sat to sit down next to him in the bar that was like a pillar. "You should dance with him," he suggested, and I shook my head. "I don't dance, plus he's too busy with my friend."

"No he is not," a British/American voice said from the other side of me, and upon seeing a large built dark skinned guy with shaggy black hair and blue eyes, I knew exactly who it was. "What do you mean Hide?" I questioned with a smile. "I mean he can't get his eyes off of you, it is like he devours your entire being."

"Okay that was by far the weirdest thing that you have ever said" I told him while taking a sip of my champagne and then heard Ratchet snort next to me before taking a sip of his mountain dew. "In all of my years I have never seen him stare at an organism so intently, so I highly suggest you go and dance with him. Who cares about the girl, just go have your own fun" he said and then went back to gulping down his drink. "But—"

"Quit your whining," Hide said and pulled me towards the dance floor where Jazz was kicking up a storm. Jazz pulled me into his arms and we danced for at least four songs until a slow song came up and we both stopped with our laughter on each other's silly dancing. "Thanks Jazz" I smiled content with a wave and walked towards the table where Mia was now sitting alone at. "Hey Mia" I said cautiously, and sat down where Optimus was sitting, "What's up?"

"Oh, nothing" she smiled with a blush.

"What, tell me?" I pressed and she giggled at a memory before she turned to me in her 'gossip' mode ready for action. "Okay so he is absolutely one hundred and fifty percent the perfect guy." She clapped, and then got all sad and depressed, "But he told me that he had his eyes on somebody else".

"Oh…" was all I managed and then I felt a light tap on my shoulder, but looked in Mia's surprised eyes first to see her reaction. Let's say she was shocked into a state of not moving for years after she had her baby. Turning I looked up to see Optimus, "Would you like to dance?" he asked with a bow and a held out hand for me to take. At which I did with a blush, "It's about time" I smiled towards him.

When another slow song started, Optimus then looked to me with reassurance, "You look lovely tonight" he said while looking at my tight halter-top navy blue dress. "As do you" I said smartly and then felt his hand on my back pull me closer towards his body. "I must apologize and confess that I was intrigued by your reaction with me talking with your friend." he started and then got serious, "She is also insane" he said which made me giggle madly. "Why do you say that?" I asked after the giggles had disappeared.

"She told me of the baby and that I was to be the supposed next 'parent' to the child."

"She did what?" I suddenly got serious, and glanced over at Mia who was now talking with a bunch of other guys. "Exactly that and how I am the 'perfect' guy as well… he trailed in thought while leading me away towards the middle of the dance floor. "Oh…?" I questioned raising my eyebrow a little.

With the bout with Mia in the past, Optimus and I danced a little more until he offered to let me sit down to rest my feet. Stretching them out contently I then looked to Optimus who was in deep thought.

"What's wrong?"

Looking up surprised he then cleared his throat and scooted a tad closer towards me, "I was just wondering, did that kiss mean something?" he asked looking into my eyes. "Excuse me?" I asked, and stared at his fingers that were now fumbling in his lap. A habit that I could not mistake as my own nervous twitch. 'Oh my gosh! He is actually nervous!' my mind screamed. "The kiss on my cheek plate, did it mean something important?" He asked again, this time very sure of himself.

"Yes" I said mindlessly before I knew what actually happened and then I was frantically sorting through my mind trying to find a solution to the problem I had just caused. Since saying yes practically screamed that, I had something for my boss, and in the business world that meant problems. "I-I…" I started nervously, but then Optimus smiled a pearly white smile that caught my breath.

"I am glad" The relief showed in his eyes as he stared at me. Making my heart soar with the relief that he did not take it as a bad sign, but also gave me mixed feelings to the fact that he was glad that I kissed him on the cheek meant something. "Optimus?" I neared his face as he sat like a statue in his own thoughts as if deep in his own world, even his eyes were focused at the table.

"Yes Kayla?" he asked still not looking up to me as I neared him, hands going to my knees to help balance myself as I looked deeply into his featured face. "Can I kiss you?" I asked just as his eyes shot up towards mine with a slight shock.

I felt like a girl in high school again as my heart raced and my breathing shallowed. I honestly could not believe what I was doing, especially since it was so out of character for me to just ask unexpectedly, "Hey can I kiss you?" But for some reason I just could not wait anymore, it was as if an impulse took me to go that far.

"Optimus, I need an answer," I told him a little shakily still keeping eye contact with him. That is until he nodded slightly giving me the go ahead as I gave him a chaste kiss on the lips. It was so feathered that you could barely feel it. However, I definitely felt it, and had to keep my heart and mind from exploding with joy at the sensations the kiss brought. It was not just a small touch; it was truly the best kiss that I have ever had in my entire life. It was as if a thousand fireworks tingled against my now warm I looked back at Optimus, I was not quite sure what to make out of his expression.

"Are you Okay?" I asked Prime, but all of a sudden static popped into the air and he was gone.

Knowing that he had not disappeared I got up to find the truck, but as I pushed through the now press filled halls I remembered Mia. "Shit" I mumbled under my breath and rushed back in to find her. Seeing Bee I rushed up to him and tapped him on the shoulder. "Where's Mia?" I asked in a rush, and waved my hand impatiently as he stared at me with a dumbfounded look in his eyes.

"Uhh…" he started.

"You are no help!" I snapped at the time he was wasting, so I ran towards what I presumed was another autobot and boy was I right. "Hey Kayla, was up?" Skids asked, and by his holoform, I was hardly surprised to find him in the form of a black man with a crowed head and blue eyes, but I had to admit that Jazz was by far the prettiest out of all of them.

"Have you seen Mia?"

"Nope" he smiled toothily, and upon seeing her rosy red-cheeked face, I glanced back at skids that was now looking past me. "Thanks" I waved goodbye and rushed towards the table that she was sitting at, luckily there was still a large group of men surrounding her. Therefore, I knew that I did not have to worry about her till tomorrow. "Mia!" I tried to get to her, and upon hearing my name she looked at me expectantly, "You gonna be okay?"

She nodded with a 'you go have fun' lip expression before she got back to her hoard of men. So I smiled a thank you and took off again towards the doors. However, what I did not realize was that the president was coming through with his family and so I ended up almost running into his nineteen-year old daughter. "Seriously?" she said in a very much northern accent, to which I smiled politely and apologized before I took off towards the valets. "Hey Valets!" I yelled out of breath as I bent down a bit to rest, but quickly limped towards the valets who now had my full attention.

"I need you guys to tell me if you have seen a blue and red semi-truck pull out?"

"No ma'am, he's still inside the north garage," an older Valet said pointing in the direction of a bigger parking garage. "Thanks a ton!" I yelled breathlessly as I ran towards the garage in a rather excited manner. When I walked inside the garage, I felt the sting of shin splints in both of my legs and had to bend to try and sooth them, but it did not help that I was wearing high heels either. "Optimus!" I yelled, and heard an engine roar to life behind me. I turned to see the familiar semi-truck parked at the very end of the isle, and limped towards it. However when I neared the truck I fell and grabbed onto the grill of the truck. "Kayla, are you okay?" I heard Optimus's voice before I saw the holoform at my side and felt embarrassed about the whole incident at once. He grabbed my arm to help me up, "Yeah I'm fine," I said and then felt the pain hard in my right dependent leg. At once, it went out and I felt the large arms wrap around my waist to help me up. "Sorry" I smiled cheekily, and then I felt arms in the crook of my knees flip me so that I was in his arms bridle style.

Squealing and going red, I looked into his worried eyes as he opened the cab door to help me inside the driver's side door. When I had been buckled into the driver's side, the holoform disappeared and the truck started to try to cool me off. "Why were you running to find me?" Optimus finally said after some time through the radio. "Because…" I said and thought for a reason why.

"Because why?" his deep voice rumbled into my chest giving me chills.

"Because I didn't want to give up a perfect opportunity," I said finally, hearing the engine roar slightly at the end of my sentence. "An opportunity for what?" he probed on which I was somewhat happy that he was playing along. "To be with you", as soon as I said it I knew that I would not be able to take that back and the engine roared loudly. Starting to pull out of the parking lot, he then kept silent for a long time until we got to the gate that would let us out.

"Will your friend be okay?" He asked changing the subject.

"Yeah" I said, feeling my heartbeat slow and breathing finally less rigid, "She'll be fine."

Once Optimus had gotten out onto the main road he sighed through his vents, "I have to confess that I have never had a kiss before." Coming out of my half trance, I then looked back surprised, "Don't you kiss on Cybertron?"

"There is no form of actual feelings it's something that just happens through the spark… did Ratchet not explain this to you?" he asked with a little sly hint of teasing in his voice. "Not really" I said and then thought back to the first day that I was with him, "Actually he did I just wasn't listening."

"Hmm"

"What?" I asked him, feeling tired all of a sudden but not wanting to go to sleep like last time and embarrass myself.

"Did you like it?"

"What? The kiss?" I asked, and then thought on it a bit, "Yeah I liked it a lot, did you?"

"It was something unlike anything I have ever felt" his voice rumbled. "How so?" I asked looking towards the radio and lightly caressing the seats with my hands as a habit of soothing myself.

"We autobots do not usually feel emotions or soft caresses as what you are doing now"

"Oh…" I said and stopped feeling the blush creep in further. "Please, it was nice to feel something soft for once" He said making me blush and put my hand on the seat again but not moving it until the urge compelled me to. "Optimus, where are we going?" I asked absently changing the subject.

"Wherever you want to go"

"Can we go somewhere private where you can be yourself?"

"Yes, but could I ask why?"

"I like seeing you, and being with the actual you better" I said and felt the engine, roar loudly beneath me. Smiling at the thought of me making his spark hum was giving me a knew confidence and as soon as he went on a little faster I thought of a plan that made my heart drum in my chest. 'This is going to be good' I thought, and smiled coyly.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello all ^_^ Sorry for the late update, I sort of had a weird and unexpected visit from my grandparents. So the upload was a bit slow, but thankfully, this took up about four chapters of the original. Make sure you read it, I made sure to put in some more information for you and a little teasers. **

**Enjoy 3**

**I take no claim on Transformers**

* * *

When Optimus pulled up onto a lakeside cliff, I didn't rush to get out and waited for him to speak instead. "Kayla?" he asked softly towards me, making my spine tingle with joy. "Sorry I'm just thinking about the kiss" I smiled touching my lips and then getting out of the cabin to step onto the cool grass that soothed my blistered feet. Stepping away, I waited for him to transform, and when he finally did, I smiled up at him when he knelt to pick me up.

"That's more like it" I said and hopped onto his hand. He chuckled deeply and helped me get onto his left shoulder. "It's beautiful" I smiled looking out at the moon filled lake.

"Yes it is" he trailed off, and then shifted his feet slightly, "Kayla?"

"Yeah?" I asked. "Why do I feel like this?"

Turning to look at him in confusion I stared at his distanced face that was currently looking forward, "What do you mean?"

"Why does my spark warm when you are near?"

Finally realizing what he was trying to tell me I then felt my heart rise and the blush in my face become more prominent. "You mean, love?"

He turned his head towards me slightly and looked at me with concern, "I have looked up that term before yet I still don't understand what it means."

"Love is hard to explain" I cleared the air for him as he pondered on it for a minute, "Does that mean that you love me?"

"I am not entirely sure…" he said, "I have never felt this form of emotion before, so I am quite unaccustomed to it."

"Well explain to me what it was like to have your spark claim something?" I asked moving my feet like a kid on a swing. "I have only felt it once, but it is a powerful subject that explains our version of finding a mate as would the term marrying be for you"

"hmm" I thought and rested my arms over the railing on his chest plate, "I don't know Optimus, I'd say you have feelings which makes you somewhat human, but I'd also have to say that I have similar feelings" I said softly letting him take the time to really soak up my feelings to a whole. "Understood" he nodded and we stood in silence for a while, enjoying each other's company. That is until he broke the silence with a rather long sigh that sounded as if he'd been holding it in for a long time.

"What's wrong?" I asked again , looking over at him in the moonlight and noticing the battle marks throughout his plating. However, after some time had passed I felt an urge to touch the battle scars of his past. Standing I walked over a step and put my fingers to his cheek, caressing it lightly. I must have startled him because his spark hummed like crazy under my feet and his eyes were shining brightly on my form. My heart went out to him as I traced all of the scars and scratches that I could until I found once that was on his jaw line. Kneeling down I traced it repeatedly until I lightly planted a kiss on top of the now warmed metal, "So many…" I whispered and stood to look him in the eyes that were still following my every move.

"They remind me of what I must do and who I must be," he said trying not to move as much to knock me off accidently. "That is what makes you special" I told him as I traced over some other scratches, "It is what makes you, you"

Feeling the deep chuckle, I looked back out towards the lakeside with my hand firmly on his cheek, "Tell me, what's bothering you?"

Another sigh escaped him and he lightly shook his head, "This mission fears me most" he said and I cocked my head to the side while lightly caressing what would have been the masseter muscle in a human jaw. "Why?"

"I wish that you're innocent mind didn't have to see the horrors of a battle and I fear that this one will be no easy task."

"Innocent mind?" I chuckled lightly, "Optimus, I admit that there are some, maybe many things that I haven't seen, but I do know that you are equally as innocent as me."

"How so?" he asked with a deep rumbling chuckle, that helped soothe me into knowing that bringing up this touchy subject with a light conversation would offset his mind a little. "The internet may tell you everything" I said while lightly tapping my fingers against his head, "But it doesn't let you experience and what you haven't experienced is something that I am quite familiar with."

"And what would that be?" he asked lightly in a teasing tone. "Love and emotions that I know you haven't felt before" I laughed at him and then got onto his awaiting hand that let me get a better look at him. "You are quite right Kayla, but I too know more than your little mind can take in"

"Are you saying I'm dumb, mister big head himself?" I teased lightly, smiling up at him to try and keep the humor that was slowly fading fast. Shaking his head he then brought me towards his lips and before I knew it he planted a small unknowingly and awkward kiss onto my head. Making my heart stop when I knew what he had just done, and looked up into his eyes with much affection. "Optimus, why are you such a charmer?" I smiled knowing that our conversation would have to be postponed after something such as that kiss. Sitting me down onto the grass and transformed into the Peterbilt, I stood and looked out at the sky, before I finally got into the driver's seat the vents turned on to warm me up and I noticed that it was around 11:30 at night, "That is a question that I cannot answer," he said with a small chuckle.

"Where are we going now?" I asked him as he pulled out towards the main highway. "Back to the apartments, so you can get rest," he said, and as soon as he did, I yawned and stretched to try to stay awake. That is until he turned on some good old soothing country music that soon had me curled up in the seat with the seat belt wrapped tightly around me for comfort. "Okay" I mumbled and took a small catnap.

When I woke up I was half expecting myself to be back in the apartment bed with Mia snoring soundly, but surprisingly I was in the hangar and still inside Optimus. Looking at the blank radio in front of me, I knew that I had fallen asleep in his cabin and he had been too sweet to wake me up. However, when I realized that I was still in my dress I thought of the grime on my body and sat up. 'I have to figure out how to get out without waking him up' I thought and when I tried opening up the door the engine roared to life which gave me a fright making me half scream/ squeal when the lock on the door locked shut.

"Sorry to wake you" I said quietly, and looked at the clock that read 9:53 on the dashboard, "Wow I really slept that long?"

"Yes, I didn't feel it right to wake you. Especially since we were both tired from the night's events," He said sleepily which rather made me smile at the way it sounded simply human. "That's okay," I said, but frowned, "But can I get cleaned up before I go into a long conversation? It kind of grosses me out to be so dirty."

Once the door opened I ran for the girls bathroom, because the bladder within me was about to blow. "Thanks Prime!" I yelled as I darted through the empty isles. When I had finally reached the bathroom and peed, I felt a whole lot better and decided to use my new workout clothes that I had gotten and had stashed in my locker but hadn't had the time to use it yet. Stepping into the warm water I finally started to relax and let the grime and dirt fall into the drain.

"This is what I needed" I sighed, and washed my soapy brunette hair. When I was done showering and had clean clothes on, I stepped into the hangar and noticed that only a few people were really working today. "KAYLA…" a very boyish voice cooed towards me, and turning around I wasn't surprised to see bumblebee standing right there with his arms crossed and a knowing smirk on his face. So without further ado I raised my hands in a surrendered state and smiled back up at him, "Fine, you got me."

'Party Rock is in the house tonight

Everybody just have a good time

And we gonna make you lose your mind

We just wanna see you shake that!'

"Bee, stop we aren't even together yet!" I yelled at Bumblebee who was now dancing to Party Rock Anthem through the radio, but stopped when I kicked his foot. "Ow, that hurts ya know!" He whined and looked at his foot to then put it back down on the floor and point at it, "Kiss it."

"Seriously? You're a freaking robot for crying out loud, there is no way I am going to kiss your foot" I laughed at him in a semi teasing manner with the blush still on my face from explaining to him what happened between Optimus and me. "You're a meanie" he said and then started playing eenie meenie by Justin Bieber and Sean Kingston through his radio.

"And you're an annoying little three year old" I waved him off with a chuckle and started walking back towards the hangar from the work out facility. Hearing him, transform did not make me turn around until he bumped my butt with his nose. "EEK!" I screeched and took off running only to almost run into Jazz who flipped over me with a 'whoa' and doing a summersault to stand back up.

"Sorry Jazz" I said, and looked to see Bee transformed again and snickered quietly off to the side. "That's okay, just what happened though?" he asked with a robot form of raising his eyebrows at Bee and me.

"He's just touched my butt!" I said bluntly with a smirk over Bee's way. "What happened?" An Italian accent said behind me and turning I was not surprised that the voice belonged to a certain mirage who was curiously staring down at me. "They just bein childish" Jazz chuckled and walked over towards the obstacle course that was made for the autobots to practice on.

"Eh, they are still young" Mirage said with a shrug to his red shoulders and a large step over me. Looking back to Bee who was casually leaning against the wall made me stick my tongue out at him, "Jerk" I said and walked towards the medical bay portion of the hangar where Prime would surely be. However when I got there I was surprised to just see Ratchet working on some cybertronian network that he hacked into from our so-called "worldwide internet". "How's it going Ratchet?" I asked, and he regarded me with a sigh before turning to look at me sternly.

"Tell me of your relationship, I am quite intrigued" he said in a nonchalant way which was SO unlike his character that it freaked me out, as I made my way up the walkway stairs. "Okay, but sorry if it's cut down, because I have told this story like five million times today and I am kind of tired of talking about it" I said sitting down on a nearby swivel chair and swiveled once in my chair before I started on the long story.

"Hmm an interesting case" he said after I was done clearly explaining that it was just something mutual between us but we are not together. "How so?" I asked with my head on my arms that were resting on the railing of the platform. "He has never showed signs like these before. The only other time was back on Cybertron…" he trailed in thought and looked to me with my eyebrows raised in an intrigued way, "It was many millennia's before you were born, so there are no worries."

Nodding, we both ended up silent inside our own thoughts. That is until my stomach growled and I noticed that I didn't have my phone because it was with my purse that was currently inside of Optimus.

"Ratchet?"

"Yes?"

"Do you know if Optimus is busy?" I asked worried that I would interfere with the upcoming mission that they were still planning for. "No, I think I saw him still on the carport in a very deep stasis" he said getting back to what he was doing earlier.

"Okay, thanks Ratch" I winked at him and turned to go.

"Kayla?" I heard him say and turned to see him up against the railing, " Take care of him".

Smiling I walked back up to the old robot and touched his hand, "I promise" I whispered towards him and he sighed in relief before dismissing me completely. Making my way back to where I just was gave me a simple state of happiness when I saw the Peterbilt still there where I had left it. Slowly nearing him, I decided to make it a good wakeup call and started from the grill. Putting my hands from the top of the hood I slowly caressed around to the front of the grill and whispered lightly, "Optimus…".

Smiling when he didn't wake up I then proceeded to walk around towards the driver's side door; still touching with three fingers as I made my way towards it. Humming lightly I felt my cheeks grow hot as I kissed his window leaving a faint mark on the translucent glass. "Optimus Prime…" I sang out to him in another simple whisper, and that's when the engine rumbled slightly. "Hello Kayla" he said sleepily as the window rolled down to let me hear his voice better.

"Good morning" I smiled in a happy tone. "The correct definition is Good afternoon" he chuckled slightly, and then paused, "What did you need?"

"Well, I was kind of hoping that I could get my phone back to see how Mia was doing and to see what time it is" I giggled slightly. When the door opened the static radio hissed through in a slow haze, and I knew immediately that he was a slow waker. This made me happy, because if our relationship went any farther than this, I could always be the one to say "good morning".

"Your Cell phone is on the dash board," he said still in the sleepy haze. So hopping in I put my knee on the driver's seat and noticed that it was on the other side of the dash that was farther away. Sighing I reached over as far as I could to grab it and felt even some of the stick shifts on my belly as I tried to reach it. "Dang it" I said with my tongue out in concentration, and put my right hand on the other seat to lean farther "Just a bit—"

All of a sudden, the horn blared through and the impact of the noise freaked me out so much that I lost my balance and fell on top of everything. "Ow" I said trying to get up from the headache that came rushing through my head, "Optimus what was that for?"

"Sorry, I got a little sensitive" he said innocently and not realizing I looked down at the position that I was in. My legs were up with my body lying over the middle portion of the truck and my hips in between the stick shifts and the radio. "Oh… sorry" I smiled cheekily and tried to get up, but stopped when I realized something else, "Can you see me?"

"Yes"

"From what angle may I ask?"

The engine rumbled in a spattering cough like manner, " From the mirrors" his voice said sounding like a little boy who's been caught doing something wrong. However, I knew what he could see since my shorts were baggy and my T-shirt tight around my torso pretty much he could see everything. This made me blush profusely, "Sorry…" I said in an embarrassed way. "Don't be it was my fault for not getting the phone for you"

Reaching up I grabbed my phone and noticed that there were at least 20 voicemails and 45 text messages all from Mia. So sitting back up in the driver 's seat, I listened to the last three messages from the voicemail.

'Kayla, Rick is furious! Please call back I don't know what to do…'

'Kayla I don't know what happened but I need you to pick up! Rick just left when I told him about the baby and he locked me in. I'm scared and I don't know what to do. Just please help…' her shushed voice said through the phone and I knew now that this was serious.

'Kayla-!' she screamed and then a noised 'ssshhhh' was heard.

I was stunned to a silence and stared ahead in horror. "What's wrong?" Optimus's reassuring voice asked sternly through the radio. "Mia… she needs our help" my voice whispered still in a state of shock.

"What happened?" he asked, and when I put the speaker on, he roared the engine to life, and as if in approval with my theory of leaving to go help my friend.

When we had finally gotten to Texas I was relieved that I was home, yet worried because it might be too late. Over the past couple of hours I had talked Lennox into letting me take the autobots with me just in case I needed their help. I was very relieved when he said I could and that he understood the importance of me being there for her. I was currently in Bumblebee who took the lead as I directed him towards her house. I was so nervous and worried that I hardly heard Bee say something to me.

"Hmm? What was that Bee?" I asked.

"I said I hope she's okay…" he said softly through the radio, and I could feel the anxiety pick up more as we got closer. When we finally pulled up and into the driveway I took a deep breath in and opened my phone to check and see if she had left any other messages. 'None' I thought in horror and looked to the huge brick house in front of me that seemed dead to the world. Stepping out of the car I walked back towards the street where Optimus was sitting with Jazz and Ironhide. Putting my hand on the passengar side door of Optimus, I took a deep breath in, "You'll watch over me right?"

The window pulled down and static came through the radio, "I wouldn't blink twice to see you harmed" his deep voice said, giving me reassurance. Smiling slightly I let my fingers stay on the metal for a couple more seconds before I walked up the steps and away from Optimus who drove down the street away from suspicious views. Ringing the doorbell gave no movement to the house, and so I knocked on the door… still nothing. My last resort was to grab the handle and see what happened, and doing just that opened the door to my utter surprise and horror.

"Mia?" I called nervously, and nothing could be heard.

"Mia, are you -?"

'Meooww' a black cat came up to me and rubbed my legs.

'Weird…' I thought, and proceeded throughout the house. Once I made my way to the dark kitchen I searched for the light and flipped it on. "Surprise!" Mia said with a smile on her face and Rick right behind her with a tired smile playing on his face. Other people from college and work were in the kitchen as well, but I just stood there in a dumbfounded gaze.

"Mia?" I whispered in shock and felt the tears come to my eyes. "Happy Birthday!" she waved her hands and left her husbands side to make her way to me who was dripping with hot tears. When she neared me I slapped her across the face, and when she looked up at me in a surprised gasp, "How could you! I thought you were seriously hurt! Do you realize the stress that I went through in the last couple of hours? All for your safety!" I yelled at her in a heap of furious tears and sobs.

"Kayla… I didn't kn—"

"What do you mean you didn't-!" I said to her and started backing away with her and her arms out in an apologetic smile, "I just wanted to give you a good surprise Birthday Party."

Shaking my head I quickly walked out the door and towards Bee who was still waiting in the driveway, "Kayla, Kayla wait!" she yelled after me and grabbed my elbow which made me stop and glare at her.

"I don't know who you are anymore, Im leaving and don't even think about following me."

Ripping my arm away I got into Bee and without a word he drove away silently only to be met up at the end of the street with the rest of the team. "Why did- we-stop?" I sobbed looking up towards the street.

"I think it's best if you get some comfort from someone who can give it to you" Bee said softly, and looking I saw the Peterbilt's driver's side door open for me. With partial relief I got out of Bee and into Prime who had soft country music awaiting me in a safe haven. "Thanks…" I said after I had stopped crying for an hour or two, "… and sorry about putting you through the trouble…"

"There is no need for an apology" his voice rumbled deeply, " All can be explained in time…"

"Thanks Optimus" I said and yawned, tired from the days problems and just wanting it to be a new day. "There is a blanket in the back compartment, you should sleep it will be a long car-ride."

"I will, considering its almost 11:30 at night and we have been on the road for the past four hours I do need sleep, but I also need—" at the same time my stomach growled, blushing I looked in the mirror with a half smile, "Food…"

A small chuckle came through the radio, and he turned off of the main highway towards a small town. When we stopped at a small restaurant in Branson Missouri called Lamberts I was surprised at how packed it still was. "Wow, this place must be good" I said with an immense awe feeling of knowing that food was going to be in my stomach soon.

"I will go with you" a realistic voice said to me in the passengars seat, and looking I saw Prime with a small smile on his face and long dark circles under his eyes. Reaching over I rubbed his arm a bit before looking at his exhaustion filled eyes. "You look like you need more sleep than I do" I smiled, " You should get your rest, I'll only be a couple of minutes."

"No, I want to go with you" he said softly in a deep purr that should have been mistaken for a growl.

Smiling, I opened the door, "Only if you want" I said with a shrug and hopped down onto the pavement to be greeted by Jazz, Bee, and Hide all standing with equal exhaustion, but total content on their faces as well. "You guys coming too?" I asked and felt a tall presence behind me.

"Yeah, I need something to fill me up" Jazz said with a rub to his holoformed tummy.

"Jazz you don't consume anything that humans do remember?" I smiled in a teasing manner.

"I know I know" he smiled, " I'm just joking."

It took us about a half an hour to get in, but boy when we got to the hot rolls and the food it was by far the best thing I have ever eaten in my entire life. The boys however just sat and talked and sometimes joked while Optimus just sat across from me watching me eat with a fascinated glint in his eyes.

"What?" I asked smiling while putting sorgum on my hot roll. "It fascinates me at what you can and can't consume and the proportions are equally interesting as well" his eyes glinted over me. "Well I do have quite the appetite" I smiled and looked around at all of the laughter and fun that felt like I hadn't been apart of something normal in a long time. But then again these autobots were my family now, even if I have only been living with them for a month now there was nothing that could be compared to a good family than these crazy guys and girl. As for right now I still had to say that Jazz was the prettiest and coolest black guy I had ever seen. As for Bee, he still looked like a blonde ditzy college student who can't make up his mind about which color is better. Iron Hide was exactly like I pictured him, with dark blackish brown hair that was short in a clean cut military style, he was also a very hefty man that had many scars on his body to even get a proper count. Optimus was beautiful as usual with his black T-shirt and Jeans with a pull over Red and Blue flamed leather jacket. When I was done eating and we were out on the road again I couldn't help but think about him and me.

"Optimus?" I asked and a quite 'hmm?' could be heard over the still soothing country music, "How did I truly come across a more better being?"

After a few minutes of silence he finally spoke up, understanding that I was talking about him, "It is quite simple for your kind."

"What do you mean?" I smiled toying with the leather softly. "I mean that you human beings have what is called a 'Damsel in distress needing a hero'" his voice said in a surprisingly slick comment. "So your my hero then?" I asked teasingly yet again.

"Only if you want me to be" he spoke sweetly.

"You have been" I blushed sitting back to rest with the warm navy blue blanket wrapped around my body and a pillow that happened to be back there too. "I will always be your hero Kayla… now get some rest. We have a long week ahead of us" he said before turning the radio back on.

Suprisingly I wasn't frustrated, it was just all the worried feelings and stress that weighed me down now as I started to fall asleep. "Optimus?"

"Yes Kayla?"

"My birthday is in January not November"

"I will remember" was the last thing I heard and then I was out like a light.

The next morning was spent trying to get the crooks of sleeping in the passenger seat all night out of my neck. "Morning" I yawned at Optimus as he too took a break at some point along with everyone else. The engine itself was quiet, and a smile came to my face at the memory of the last time I got to wake him up.

Feeling a little playful, I decided to coo out his name, and when there was no response, I touched the stick shift slowly up and down. Bottom lip being bitten slightly, as I curled a hair behind my ear. "Ooooptimus" I cooed yet again, and this time, when I returned my hand to the top of the stick shift the engine practically jumpstarted to life. Putting a little here and there, as the simple smile rose on my lips. "Morning sunshine" I cooed yet again. The radio went to a humming bass for a minute before coming back into play, "Goodmorning Kayla… " he struggled to find his words, the evidence was there in the strangled voice, "Did you sleep well?" he asked.

"Why yes thank you, did you sleep well?"

"The best sleep I think I had in a long time" he chuckled, as if still trying to get the morning wake up call out of his mind. "Shall we get you food?" he questioned after a while, and I nodded, "Yes, please, that would be wonderful."

When we had gotten food, and made it back to the hangar that morning, we all went to our duties. Of course though, my duties were cut off from being with Optimus and training with him, to training with Bumblebee. It was okay, but the rest of the week seemed to be the same as well, which got me worried about Optimus, whom I haven't been able to have a chat with in a long time, more or less seen either.

It was the following Wednesday where I was stuck in my apartment at nine o'clock at night figuring out what I should and shouldn't pack for the mission that I was to go on tomorrow. Through the past few days I had slowly gotten over the whole Mia incident and was working on mentally preparing myself. Casey was lying next to me snoring up a storm while I had my headphones in, listening to some Band Perry songs. When I had finally finished all of my packing I hit the shower for what could be the last time and got ready for bed.

Casey grunted as he got into bed with me petting him and thinking about tomorrow. However, I was fast asleep and waking up at 4 in the morning to get ready to go and to make sure that the front desk guy who I figured out is named Charlie knew that I had Casey up in my room that needed tending too. Charlie had gotten over the incident and eventually we both apologized for what happened and as a result I got to know him a little better, and really he wasn't that bad. "Hey Charlie" I smiled and walked up to him with my overstuffed back pack in tow.

"You're going on that mission too?" he asked when he looked up from his sausage egg and cheese sandwich from McDonalds. "Yup, and I need you to watch over Casey while I am gone" I smiled sweetily, and with a long stare off he finally gave up. "Fine, but if he bites me you get the end tail of it!" he complained after me as I thanked him and headed over towards the hangar. Although when I got there, they were all ready to go, I just had to find Optimus. Since Both Optimus and Lennox agreed that with my minimal hardly called training that, I should stay with Optimus for the rest of the mission. I also knew exactly what Lennox and the rest of the team were up too and I was in the mood to play along. The autobots that were to come on the mission were Ironhide, Ratchet, Jolt, Mirage, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, and of course Jazz.

Finding my way towards the end, but not all the way to the back of the line sat the Peterbilt. Upon my arrival the door opened for me to get in, so I did just that and said my goodmornings to him as the warm cabin heated up my chilled body. "Goodmorning Kayla, I hope you slept well?" He asked in a sweet but well needed rumble as the line started to head over towards the main airforce base where two planes were awaiting us. "I did actually, thank you" I smiled and then put my hands on the dashboard to stretch out my back with a long yawn, " and what about you?"

"My stasis was fulfilling and much needed" he replied back and I sat in silence for awhile just listening to the soft yet rumbling purr of his engine. I knew that we both had something, but we weren't exactly prepared to go into a full relationship. I mean really? How do you go into a relationship with a robot anyways? Is it even possible to… you know…

"Is something bothering you?" Optimus asked after the silence seemed to drag on too far for him. "No, I'm just listening" I smiled at the innocence to what Optimus asked and what I was about to tell him. "To what?" he asked seeming to get confused because the radio was currently off at the moment. "To your spark" I smiled with a blush and kept my eyes closed as I sat back further into the seat, "It keeps me calm."

"You are nervous?" he asked concerned which made me chuckle slightly. "Not at all, just about the mission and what my job is supposed to be."

"You are just supposed to be Ratchets assistant as well as Jolt who will also help you if you need it" he said and then paused for a short time, "This will be hard for you and I promise that I will do anything and everything in my path to save you if you ever need my assistance."

"You are my hero" I mimed after a couple of days of constantly saying that to him whenever I saw him and was able to talk to him, which always got his engine purring more. A deep chuckle could be heard as we both just sat there in silence as he drove on.

When we finally entered the gates towards the big planes I started to get anxious. "Kayla? Your vitals have seemed to go up, is something wrong?" he asked, and looking to him confused I then laughed slightly at what he was asking. "Yeah my vitals are fine, its just I've never really flown in a plane before. Especially a size as big as this…" I trailed looking at the two planes as we neared the rear end of them. Optimus had stopped before getting in and confused I jolted high when there was a knock next to me.

Looking to Lennox who motioned me to get out gave me an even more confused conscious. So without a comment I jumped down and took in the chill night air as it engulfed my body. "What's up, all mighty and fearless leader?" I asked him with a mocking tease, because I and the twin packs have started calling him that for at least five weeks now… I couldn't remember why either.

" We need you to come with us" he said. "What about Optimus, why can't I go with him?"

"One, because it's safer and; Two, because they are going to air drop them 20 miles off of the city of Tynda, Russia."

"Oh…" I said, feeling a little disappointed and a little bit of uncertainty with leaving without him by my side. Stepping on the steps of the Peterbilt I reached over and grabbed my bag, "See you Optimus…" I said softly and felt the leather seats before I shut the door to follow Lennox. "I will not be far behind" I heard a deep rumble say and looked to see the window rolled down. "You promise?" I smiled to show a little light on the tense subject of the actual mission and ran after Lennox who was already walking towards a smaller Jet plane. "I promise" I heard his voice say faintly as I walked towards the plane that had started already.

The plane ride was utterly horrid, not only was it a small plane that rattled constantly, but because it was a small plane I had nothing and I mean absolutely nothing, to keep me distracted from the constant pop of my ears and small cramped quarters. Therefore, the rest of my time was spent wondering if Optimus was okay and if I would ever get off this thing. At some point, Epps shook my shoulder and I woke up.

"We finally made it" he smiled exhausted with a hint of humor "I'm glad you finally slept, I thought you were going to commit suicide at the constant motions that you made." "Sorry" I smiled shyly, feeling the fifteen-minute catnap beginning to wear off.

Getting off the plane was simple, now I just had to wait until the autobots got here to finally get a good night's sleep. I wasn't quite sure why I was worried…I just was. It was something off impulse that made me want to wait until Optimus and the rest of the team was with me again. "Kayla!" Lennox yelled from a bus, "Come on, we got to go to a hotel for the night. We'll meet up with Optimus and the others in the morning."

Nodding with a hint of disappointment and more worry, didn't help the fact that I missed them all and just wanted them back safe with us where I know they'd be. So getting on the bus naturally wasn't planned out as well as I thought it would. The bus was owned by the military and for some reason I just couldn't get the right footing so eventually I had to have Epps help me up to sit me between him and Lennox. "Thanks" I mumbled tiredly.

"No problem" Epps said and I could feel everyone's gaze on me. I know that I probably looked like crap and even though it was in the middle of the afternoon, the sky was cloudy so that meant that when I got to the hotel that I'd be able to sleep soundly. Eventually I checked my phone to see if there were any messages. At some point, I stopped clicking the lock button on and off, when we suddenly and very abruptly stopped. The rough stop jolted me from my electronic gaze and when I looked out at the deserted snow covered road, I had a sense of intense worry running through my mind. "I'm guessing that we are here?" Epps said in a non-humorous way that was more, exhausted than anything.

"Guess so," I said following Lennox out of the back of the truck while grabbing my backpack from Epps's hands. "Great, it's cold as hell and here we are sleeping at what should be motel 6" he mumbled under his breath, and looking towards the hotel we were going to be staying at, "We belong to a highly operated and very well paying corporation and yet here we are."

"Stop whining, it could be worse" Lennox chuckled heavily over his shoulder opening the front door to let us in. Once in, I had to stop to take in the engulfing warmth with a long and tired sigh. Feeling the heat was something I enjoyed very much and missed dearly. Ever since my move to N.E.S.T, I had missed Texas, but knew that it was my best move so far. Especially since having met Optimus and the others who made me feel like I had a family of my own. I guess, as I thought, that it was probably the only reason why I wanted them all back under my watch. "Kayla" a young female solider known as Rachel said with a small smile, "You're bunking with me."

Following Rachel down the second floor hallway we soon stopped at door number 36 and when she opened it and walked in, we both threw our stuff on the bed and fell on top of it like we hadn't felt the comfort of a queen size bed in years. "It feels nice" Rachel sighed after some time of pending silence. However, her voice sounded sad and very much alien to me.

I have only known Rachel for a couple of days and now I was stuck bunking with her. Apparently she had been here about as long as Lennox and was even closer to the autobots than I was. Somehow it made me feel a twinge of jealousy, because even though I have only been here for a little over two months, they were what made staying with N.E.S.T all the more worthwhile. They were what made me go home every day with a smile on my face and a wonderful memory to keep in mind for infinity.

"Yeah" I said hesitantly with a small smile on my face, and the thought of the autobots and me. It was quite again until her phone rang from inside her bag, as she was scavenging for it, I got up and walked towards the bathroom in silence. Once I turned on the light I was in horror with myself and ran for my bag with a gasp. "Okay, it's good that you guys are okay" Rachel said with a smile, "Yeah I will inform them that you are close."

Stopping what I was doing I gave a curious yet, hopeful, look to Rachel who when she looked up from her smile at the phone she then explained, "The autobots are about a couple of hours away now, and should arrive around eleven tonight."

"Who were you talking to?" I questioned curiously and got the intense feeling of warmth in my chest with knowledge that the autobots would be here in four hours. "Oh… It was Optimus" she smiled hesitantly, awaiting my reaction.

"Okay, I guess you better go tell Lennox the news then?" I smiled sweetly, when deep down inside me I was a little hurt to the fact that he didn't even manage to tell me that he had landed safely and that he was on his way. But then again I couldn't blame him; we were just co-workers and even though there were obvious feelings for one another, we still weren't together. It hurt me to think of that, but it was the cold hard truth. No matter how many drives or lessons we spent together, we were still nothing. "Yeah, I guess I should" Rachel said with a scratch to her head and a sigh of relief before heading out to tell Lennox of the news. "Why?" I whispered when Rachel had left, and a small tear trailed down my cheek, "Why me?"

Sighing, I plopped onto the bed, and sighed once more before the tears fell and my heart lurched. The jealousy and hurt were making my head and heart ache. I wasn't quite sure why I was crying, but all I knew was that Optimus called this girl and not me, and that hurt a lot. Even the memory of her smiling fondly while talking to him made my stomach want to blow. I couldn't get the meaning of it and, knowing of my over-analyzing mind I couldn't help but just let the over-active imagination take control. Hearing a knock at the door, I quickly got up and tried to wipe my tears away, but for some reason they wouldn't stop so I ran to the bathroom and yelled, "Come in!" before shutting the door quietly.

"Okay, I told Lennox", she called and must have noticed that I was in the bathroom, "You okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine" I sniffled, and went to sit on the toilet for comfort, but closing the lid first. "Okay…" she trailed from behind the door, "Don't worry about your appearance, you won't need those good looks for battle tomorrow."

"Battle?" I asked, but in my mind I was a bit fuming for my own selfish reasons, 'Good looks my ass'. "Yeah, missions usually end up in a huge cluster fuck of a battle…did Optimus not tell you this?"

'No he didn't…'I thought hurt even more, "No."

"Oh… well you know about the story right?"

"Yeah I heard all about it"

"Oh…Okay…"she trailed and we both fell silent for at least a couple of minutes until I finally heard a slap on the thigh, "Well I am going to get some rest, we will definitely need it for tomorrow." With that she turned off the main light and, after a few seconds of sitting on the toilet I finally decided to make a run for my bag. Thankfully the room was dark so I unzipped my bag and ran back to the bathroom to pull on my PJ's. One last look at my dark brown hair and a sigh towards myself in the mirror and I headed for my bed. Laying down in the dark helped me think more about my life.

For one I felt like I was selfish and crazy for thinking such an ordeal between Rachel and Optimus would ever happen. Moreover, she was nice…she helped me a lot these past few days that we spent together. Eventually I felt horrible for the way I acted, and couldn't help but want to tell her about it. However, I knew that she was asleep so I decided to keep it to myself. A few hours passed and I was still up and, at some point I started crying softly. It was something that I did at least once a month to get rid of all of the stress and worry out of my head for just a moment. I know it wasn't the best time to get everything out but, my mind was too boggled to even think of not crying. Besides these couple of weeks have been hell on me, so I couldn't blame myself even though I was.

When the crying was over and I felt confident and worthy of myself again I heard the rolling of tires pull up and then silence. My hope was up just a little so, I headed for the window that was on Rachel's side and I had to be silent. Peeking at her sleeping face sent me relief and I pulled back a small portion of the curtain to look at the now pitch black starry night. "Optimus!" I whispered with joy and I quickly grabbed my army coat that was given to me along with a pair of boots and headed outside. The front desk was closed, but the doors were unlocked, so I walked out into the snowy and very cold air. A huff of my breath made me chuckle softly at the thought of being a child and my dad claiming that I could smoke from the air.

Looking up into the night sky made me feel like I was free, but turning my attention to the Peterbilt and the rest of the autobots made me feel like I had the obligation to say goodnight. Which was exactly what I did, starting from his side, I softly touched his hood saying a soft "Goodnight" as I passed by each one with an equal touch. Sides rumbled under his hood softly as thanks, Ironhide, Jazz, and Ratchet did the same. With all of them wished goodnight, I then looked to the Peterbilt that was taking up two parking spaces and was at about three spaces away from where I was.

My mind was at ease as I smiled fondly towards his frame, but as I took a few steps forward I felt the hurt and jealousy that I had felt earlier all over again. By the time I made my way to the Truck's side I felt like crying all over again, but that all stopped when the door opened to let me in. I was surprised that he wasn't asleep, because by now they had had a long drive and should have been sleeping. Stepping into the heated cabin filled my heart with a conflicting feeling of worry and warmth. The cabin was warm and the radio was turned to a country station. "Hello Kayla" his voice rumbled deeply up my spine and into my brain which made me slightly tremble.

"Hi" I whispered softly, but I knew that as soon as he heard my cracked voice that he would know that something was wrong. "Why are you crying?" his voice whispered softly in a very worried state. "I'm not…" before I could finish an electric pulse came through the engine and Optimus's holoform was in the seat. To say he looked horrible would be mean, but his hair was ruffed, his eyes were slightly droopy, and his face was filled with worry. Everything that was on my mind disappeared completely and all I wanted was to make him feel better. I hardly knew that he was holding my hands in his until he said, "Kayla, please talk to me," wiping the tears from my eyes.

"I'm sorry!" I cried and fell into his chest. Surprisingly he quickly reacted and grabbed me in a comforting embrace. "Why are you sorry?" He questioned into my hair after some time of crying in front of the first person or robot to ever see me cry. Sobbing I took my face out of his chest to look into his mirrors, knowing that even with his holoform that he could still see me.

"I…I got jealous when you called Rachel and not me. I know it was selfish of me…very selfish, but I really like you and can even come to say that I love you. But the thing is that I have been hurt too much and I felt like you were going to do the—"

"Kayla" he said suddenly and rather sternly, making me slightly jump. Looking up into his bright blue eyes took me away from my present state, "Yes?" I asked feeling as if I was in a trance within those beautiful eyes. "Don't ever think that you are selfish. You had a very good reason to be jealous and yes it was a bad thought but I want you to know that…"he paused and crookedly smiled. It was something that I have never seen in his facial features before, it had so much emotions strung within it all at once. He made my heart clench hard at the memory and beauty of his sloppy looks, even if he was tired he was still amazing in my heart.

Watching his face lean down lower and lower until he touched my nose with his moving it into an Eskimo kiss, and without losing my gaze, he lightly kissed me on my mouth. I was so surprised that I had to blink twice before closing my eyes at the soft and warm touch that the kiss emitted. A small tingle was left on my lips and the taste of metal that was strangely satisfying to me, as he left them to whisper so lightly that I had to strain to hear him say the lovely words that would make a lasting impression on my heart…forever.

"I love you"


	7. Chapter 7

Those words stuck in my mind throughout the night, and all through the drive to a building where supposedly the Deception's were hiding something important. I was not sure what it was because no one ever told me anything, but at this moment, I could really care less. All I could care about was Optimus's husky whispered voice saying, "I love you" to me while looking into my eyes with such sincere love and devotion. His blue eyes tore through me giving me a chilling feel up the spine. Even now as I was in the passenger's side of Optimus, I got a chill through my spine. Making Optimus blast the furnace even higher, and when I smiled I went back to last night, after he said those lovely words.

-Flashback-

His eyes burned like blue fire lighting up my world as he looked into my soul for the first time, the only time I think I would ever feel vulnerable to this softhearted giant.

"I-" my voice caught in my throat as tears rolled down softer now with more emotion in them than anything else, because at that moment I felt free as a jet soaring through the air. A small chuckle escaped Optimus's mouth as he kissed my forehead, "I just wanted you to know my feelings too" he said and when looking down at me I knew he was very and faithfully honest in all that he said during this moment.

Smiling in attempt to close my shocked mouth from opening again I just stared back up at him in speechless words, "I- I love you too, Optimus Prime". A single tear fell and Optimus caught it with his holoform thumb, and the way he looked when he smiled lovingly, back at me was priceless. Something that my heart yearned to see more often.

"Why do you cry?" he asked after some time of me lying uncomfortably across the divider in the seats on his chest. "I cried because I was too happy to explain, my feelings" I smiled feeling the onslaugntt of the sleepless flight hitting me like a cold-stone rock.

"Does it feel good to cry?" he asked in a tired whisper and after a moment of silence and contemplating I finally had my answer ready for him. "It feels like being set free," I whispered softly and fell into a content sleep with minor tear stains on my cheeks.

-End of Flashback-

My soul and heart were at a state of utter happiness that felt as if it could be only experienced once in a lifetime. Remembering last night and being able to wake up to, a world full of happy hurts from my stiff back. Optimus was currently in the lead as we headed down a snow covered and deserted highway.

"Hey Optimus?" I asked looking ahead with a squint through the blizzard like snow.

"Yes Kayla?" he asked, while turning down the music so I could hear over it.

"What's this mission for anyways?"

"We believe that the Deception's are after something, and with the tracking of energon signals we might be able to figure out what it is."

"Oh…" I trailed, and sat back into my seat more, "What's going to happen when we get to our destination?"

"We spread out and search, but I am sure that as we get closer the Deception's will be mobilized and ready for attack."

"Mobilized? As in there are more of them?" I asked knowing the full on stupidity of the question.

"I am afraid so…" he said and then fell silent, during this time I knew that he was connected to the com link between the autobots and was being told something, so I would sit back and patiently await for him to come back. Before he could say anything as the radio turned down, again a sudden blast was heard from ahead and in the distance some miles away you could see a fire from an explosion.

"Kayla" Optimus said sternly as he sped up towards the spot where deceptions were likely to be awaiting us. "Yes?" I asked, as the feelings of a nervous stomach and a scared mind kicked in.

"This is going to get rough and I want you to be forewarned because something's might happen that may scar you for life…" he paused making my fears heighten for what he was about to say, " I promise you that I won't let anything happen to you, and that I will be protecting you even if I'm not there…"

In that moment, I could have sworn that I heard his voice choke, and with the fear of the unknown that was about to happen… it was just unimaginable. We were in silence for a few more seconds as Optimus neared it closer and closer. Until he slowed down to let the others trek on ahead to investigate.

"Be ready…," he said to both me and everybody else. Nodding I pulled on my semi thick winter coat and zipped the combat boots all the way to tightly, yet neatly fit my feet. "Ready" I said seriously and when we pulled into what looked like old cement and abandoned town courtyard I felt the chill rise in me.

The silence was quiet and full of suspense as we waited for orders from Lennox. All of a sudden, the courthouse busted through and out came a gigantic decepticon, making Optimus yell, "Get out!" as he transformed. Falling to the ground was nothing but the impact while clearing my head was mind boggling as I looked up in time to see Optimus collide with the Decepticon.

With my body, still lying in a daze barely let me hear Optimus say "Run" in a grunt as he tried to fend off the decepticon. When my mind comprehended his words I felt a large hand encircle me and looked up in time to see Jazz make a shh motion with his fingers. Carrying me off towards somewhere that would surely hide me from decepticon attacks. "Stay here and don't get killed" Jazz winked at me through his shiny blue optics leaving me to hide under a large school bus.

The breeze was cold and the snow blurred my vision from everyone that was as far as 100 feet from me. My nerves were shot through the roof as the deceptions shot from view and attacked on all sides. "Oh god" I breathlessly said as Optimus got finished with the big decepticon. To my joy, he was headed towards me without a scratch visible on him.

"Optimus!" Somebody yelled and as he turned to look behind him there in his midst barely visible was the new and renewed Megatron. "Megatron…"Optimus said and readied his sword in hand; my heart beat fast as I stared at the battle ahead.

"Do you not scream with joy for my revival brother?" Megatron questioned menacingly inching closer. The tension in the air was thick with all other battles disappearing from mind as the two circled closer to each other in a heated hatred for each other. "I cringe knowing that you have come back to harm more humans" Optimus said quite venomously.

"And what about that woman? Do you not have feelings for her?" Megatron questioned, changing the subject to me. "How-"Optimus asked, and shifted slightly. "I know you better than you know yourself," Megatron laughed and sneered, "How about I just kill her now?"

His red eyes shifted to me and my heart froze in fear, the breath leaving my lungs in panicked awe. "You will do no such thing" Optimus shifted to what would be in front of me and away from Megatron's view, "This is a fight between you and me, Megatron."

"As you wish" Megatron chuckled and rushed forward with his first attack. That had me yelping in fear of him hurting Optimus. "Kayla get out from under there!" Ratchets voice was heard from behind me, and as soon as I saw the giant foot, I crawled with a role towards the end and quickly made my way out before the whole bus was crushed under a decepticon foot. Standing I looked around at the horror and everything that was going on…

Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, and Ironhide were in a standoff with deception's that outnumbered them 10 to 20. Ratchet and Jolt were fighting off five other deceptions along with Lennox and his team who were behind canons that I never saw before. Jazz on the other hand had disappeared from view and was currently somewhere else. I felt the need to help and get this over with so that we could all be safe, but as I went to stand on top of an old truck bed the fear of knowing that something bad was to happen churned in my heart and head. Almost making me run from the conflicting madness in my mind. Looking behind me at the pulse emitter that looked like a shotgun and had shots of electricity that would bring down any decepticon. I measured up my statistics and chances of getting there before the deception's got to me was coming down to a do or die situation so I breathed in and readied myself.

"Hey you!" I yelled towards the decepticon that was coming up behind Jolt. When he turned in rage and slight confusion I smiled crookedly with a piece of what I thought was important because it looked like a small shard of something. Moreover, it was what fell off him when he made his way over here to help his friends. "Needing this?"

His rage increased as he turned around full throttle and headed towards me, making my mind go into survival mode with a slight "Oh shit" escaping my mouth. Jumping from the truck bed I sprinted full speed towards the pulse emitter. Making it within a jump, I rolled just in time to skip his hand from grabbing me and landed next to it. Looking up in time to see his hand start it is decent towards me made me freak out and roll backwards while grabbing the gun. When I managed to miss his hand once again and stand up, I counted my chances for the third time and decided not push it. With a smile and a wink towards his surprised and becoming very angered face.

"Tag you're it."

Pulling the trigger, the Decepticon lunged, and was hit, jolting and jumping for a split second, before falling. When I finally killed him I felt the rush of adrenaline spike and I smiled at the kill I had made. When I looked around I started to realize that there were too many, and our chances of getting out alive were slim. My body ached as I tried to help Jolt from fading on me. His whole middle section had been blown to pieces, his eyes were filled with no traces of energon, and I wasn't even close to giving up. Even if I knew, it was already too late to fix him.

The others were trying to fight, and I currently had Jazz behind me to fend off any Decepticons that got near. "Give up, Kayla!" Jazz grunted, kicking off a small Decepticon pest, "He's not—"

"I'm not giving up on him! I am not giving up on any of you! "I screamed in half madness towards Jazz who, I was sure, was shocked from the intensity of my voice that could be barely heard from the blasting wind. "I won't give up…" a tear slid down my face, as I whispered to Jolt, "Not ever."

The wires I had in my hand came together in an instant, and Jolt's body compulsed underneath me, causing me to fly off with a yelp, but only to be caught by a very much alive Jolt. "Thanks" was all he said, as he sat me down in the foot of snow.

"No, problem" I choked while wiping my tear filled eyes. The feelings of hope were overwhelming, but in an instant, they were gone. Because heading towards Optimus, who was fighting off a few Decepticons, was Starscream. I had learned his name when Ratchet told me about him in one of his stories. However, right now was not the time to feed on memories.

Heading towards him, while keeping a low profile, was harder than I thought and soon he turned my way. "Well if it isn't the little fleshing from before?" his cold scratched voice said, with piercing red eyes that drilled into my heart. "Yeah, and?" I said, knowing how stupid I was for saying something back. I regretted it as soon as Starscream came laughing towards me, clutching my body.

"Let me go!" I squirmed, and another cackle from him sent a cold chill down to my heart. I was trapped and not sure why or how I got into this mess. I wasn't even sure where Megatron went, but even then, I felt the horrible feelings from before start to build again. Since everything now went by in a destructive blur, I was kind of feeling a little dizzy and panicked. "Why don't you want to see Optimus Prime killed?" he asked, looking into my eyes indicating I should look over to where Optimus was. When I did, I wanted to scream, but my breath caught in my throat as I struggled to get out quickly from the ever-tightening clawed hand. Megatron was coming behind the occupied Optimus with his sworded hand in tow.

'Help him!' my mind screamed in fear, and all of a sudden, Starscream was hit from behind by what I hoped, and assumed, was an autobot. The clawed hand came loose, helping me fall with ease to the ground. Looking behind me, I noticed Jolt with his electric shock cords attached to the now passed out Starscream.

I had no time for 'thank you's' and just nodded, turning back in time to see Ironhide try to hit Megatron from behind, but got thrown away instead. Optimus now lay before Megatron, with a worried face.

"Now witness my full power, brother," Megatron's menacing voice said to him.

"No, don't do this! You are better than that!" Optimus said, and looked to see me standing a few feet away, face in a worried and fearful mess. "You die today!" Megatron screamed and his sworded hand came slashing down in a furry. Making Optimus scream and me "No!" before, a crunching metal sound was heard, along with a scream of agony from Optimus.

Tears rolled down my face incredulously, because behind Megatron was Ironhide who had moved with speed to advert the direction of the sword, before it hit Optimus. It was our time to fight back, and everyone knew it because they all started to fight with force against Megatron and the Decepticons. Ironhide and the Sides had Megatron in a standoff to give me enough time to inspect him. Since Ratchet was in his own battle, I knew I had my chance yet again. Running with speed and agility, I made my way towards a pained Optimus, and climbed his body to be faced with the gash that was millimeters from his spark. "Kayla, you have to leave, it—"he groaned in pain, and closed his eyes before speaking once more, "It's not safe for you anymore. I am done for, leave me here." I did not want to hear him as the tears fell from my eyes and I tried fixing the damaged cords and wires.

"Kayla… please," he said and writhed in pain again, this time falling back, shaking the body he possessed. "Optimus Prime there is no way that I will ever you leave, not after you said you loved me, and even then I wouldn't leave you even if it killed me" I choked, and knowing he heard me sent flutters in my heart as he looked into my eyes, " I'm going to make you better again."

With cold and frantic hands, I tried to mesh wires that went with each other together, but with one thick tube left that I could not get together, I fell on my knees and sobbed. Not wanting to give up hope, but knowing that I was failing. "Kayla…" Optimus's baritone voice whispered to me making me look up at him from the frustrating wires, "You are not God or Primus, you cannot fix everything, but I am proud to know that you care so much."

"Optimus?" I asked and noticed his flickering lights dim in his eyes, "Optimus!" I frantically yelled, as his head fell back. "Don't die on me!" I screamed, and crunched the two wires together, making energon sparks fly within my hands. His spark glowed underneath and I knew I had done it. The smile on my face was evident as he came back to life before my eyes, making me choke in the immense love that filled me. "Kayla?" Optimus asked in slight confusion, "Why are you crying so much? I am here am I not?"

Laughing briefly sent me into another sob of chokes and tears. Crawling up towards his metal lips, I kissed them and tried, even though it was awkward I tried to throw all my emotions and love into one kiss that would hold my fate forever."Optimus, I couldn't live without you, wouldn't live without you. You, in this moment and forever will always be in my heart. I love you, and if you will have me then—"I started with a warm smile in my eyes and face, the tears falling slowly now.

"I don't think I could ever love another being, as much as I love you now and forever more" Optimus said, his eyes warming and spark humming beneath me. Our eyes were locked for what seemed like ages, until a sharp pain emitted from my right collarbone. Making my back arch with screaming pain, and looking down I noticed a cord through my shoulder, attaching itself there.

"Optimus!" I screamed as my body was jerked from my position into Megatron's tight claws that threatened to kill me. "Kayla!" Optimus yelled back, but when he tried to get up the weakness and pain kicked in making him stumble on his arms. "Let her go." Optimus said with his voice a soft but threatening sound. "And why would I do that brother? When I know your feelings for this fleshling…" he smiled, and smelled my head, "She's so easy to kill, but in spite of your emotions I think I'll do this."

He pulled the cord out of my collarbone and shoulder causing me to scream in agony and crumple in pain. "Let her go!" Optimus yelled, standing slowly with the help of Sunny and Sides. "And what are you going to do about it brother?" Megatron asked in a disbelieved state, "I'm the one that has the girl."

Optimus chuckled low in his throat, "But not the army to back you up…" he said and pointed towards the dead army of robots, only Starscream was left, who was now waking up to find his master in a rather problematic state. Megatron growled, and dropped me, making me scream from the height only to be caught by Ratchets hand.

"We need to get her to hospital, her human injuries are too far gone for me to fix." Ratchet said, analyzing my convulsing body. My only thought was on Optimus's health and well being before I passed out from the blood loss and pain.

It was a dark place, but surprisingly I felt calm.

The first thing I heard was the sound of the life-support beeping every few seconds. Beep…Beep…Beep

Then came the sound of the respirator, and as I listened in the dark I decided to count by breaths. 'Breath in, Breath out, Breath in, Breath out…'

The sounds mingled together, making a soft beat. Speaking of beats, I heard the sound of mine drumming steadily. It was almost relaxing to listen to, but then I got the thought of hearts and when I studied about them in College. In a single moment, I was in a complete content bliss, but the next brought horrible memories of Optimus, the pain, and everything else about the battle. Making my body pull up and out of the darkness into an emergency room setting.

Looking down at my body shocked the hell out of me. I was in all kinds of IV's and my shoulder writhed with pain. The life support was now louder and faster than before, 'Where's Optimus? Where am I?' I thought, and looked in time to see Doctor Grex, and two nurses that were also familiar to me walk in.

'Why are they here?' I thought, as they tended to my wounds. "Kayla we need you to lay back down please" Dr. Grex said, with a slight push to my unwounded shoulder. "Where is Optimus?" my voice croaked, and all three looked up with confused eyes.

"Cathy get her off of those drugs, she is hallucinating."

'Cathy that's right' I nodded, and looked to Cathy who was about to take out my one source of getting rid of this pain. "Nooo!" My voice croaked at her, as I grabbed her arm, but she shoved it away with ease. 'Why am I so weak, what is going on? I don't understand!' My mind screamed, and as soon as she took the painkillers away, my whole body writhed in agony. Causing me to scream harshly, but barely audible. "Give me a dose of that, the one you're holding, thank you." Dr. Grex said to the other nurse and plunged a needle into my skin. Making me pass out with ease, yet again ending up in a dark, black abyss.

Waking up again, I noticed that my pains were only slight, with only one IV in giving me constant pain meds. Looking around I noticed that I had been moved to one of the more permanent rooms that only had the bed I was currently in. I also noticed that I was in the hospital I used to work in.

"Kayla?" I familiar, yet sleepy voice said, and looking next to me I noticed my ex who was just waking up from his nap on the couch. "What are you doing here?" I asked, almost in shock that he was here and not Optimus, "Where's Optimus and the others?"

"Look... I don't know who this Optimus is, but honey you really scared me there for a moment" looking into his eyes I noticed the worry that was written across his features. Feeling his thumb across my hand made me reel back in disgust. "What are you doing here?" I asked again, this time with more bitterness to it, "What's going on?"

His features knotted in confusion, "Sweetheart, don't you remember anything, anything at all?"

He came closer to try to grab my hand again, but I pulled back in fear of his touch, "Why did you call me sweetheart, seriously are you nuts?" I could not believe what was going on, because one moment I was with Optimus and now I was stuck with him. My worst nightmare could not compare to this, and so I started worry, BIG time. He sighed and bowed his head to rub his neck with his hands, moving backwards to lean against the back of the chair.

"You were in a car accident, but before that I had called you to make sure that you were on your way to the Christmas party. I did not get word until after they brought you in, "He paused and rubbed his eyes, obviously tired from worry and exhaustion. At this point, he was really starting to freak me out with what he was telling me and what was going on, because ultimately that was not how I remembered it.

"You got ran over by a semi on the bridge and it flipped you over onto the fencing that shattered through your collar bone and lungs… it… it almost killed you."

"Uhh… I'm sorry, but could you just go away for a minute to let me think?" I asked, in both shock and confusion. When he nodded, I was extremely relieved to be by myself to think for even just a minute. Letting my head fall in my hands I tried remembering a car accident, but all I could remember was the battle and Optimus. 'Optimus' I thought, and felt something on my left hand. Screaming at the top of my lungs, caused everyone and their mother to rush in all at once. On my left hand was the prominent wedding ring that my ex had given me on our wedding day. "What's wrong, Kayla?" He asked coming to my side to rub my back, "What happened?"

Looking to him, I then shoved him off, "When the hell did we get remarried?"

The whole room fell silent with wide-eyed expressions, "Dr. Grex, please get my wife back to normal," He said burying his head in his hands, and having Cathy rub his back for comfort. "Yes, let's get her memories back"

"I'm just fine! There is nothing wrong with me, hell just tell Lennox over in Memphis." I screamed frustrated for having them do this to me when they all knew about what had happened. Realizing my sudden outburst I tried calming down, "…Look, Jerry just get me out of here and away from him" I said pointing to my ex with fear and confusion bubbling inside me.

"Okay, Okay… Let's just all rest for a while, okay? Can we do that?" Jerry said, and having us all nod he came over to put another dose of meds in my IV. I was half expecting to feel the dark calming abyss take over, but instead my heart felt like blowing up and my lungs burned. All of the pain from before burst inside me, causing me to scream in agony.

Shooting up from the pain had me searching for the meds that would stop it from possibly killing me, but suddenly I recognized my setting. I was on a stretcher headed for the ER surgery room. Looking around me, I noticed the autobots all in holoform with worried faces.

Feeling slight pressure on my chest I then looked up to see Ratchet with an exhausted expression trying to make me lay back down. When I layed back down I felt the pain seep through and cringed at the intensity of it. Although I was in obvious pain my mind was still searching for that one heartache that would never go away until I found it. When I felt a warm large hand encircle mine, and looking into the warm eyes of Optimus Prime I knew that I had found what I was searching for. With not sign of pain written on my face the tears fell down, and with a relieved smile I probably made them all think I was crazy. But as Optimus looked back to me with a warm smile that had worry written all over it and tear stained marks down his cheeks made my heart warm with the best feeling of finding him again.

Kissing his hand I said the only thing that was on my mind at that moment, "Thank god you're all mine".


	8. Chapter 8

_**Hello ^_^**_

_**It's been about a month since I last wrote, and for that I am sorry. A busy bee I have been with finals and what not, but no worries, it is all over and I am satisfied with an all A second semester of College :D Doing good so far, and hopefully I'll be back for the summer to start writing full time again. Maybe after the 8th when I get back from my Birthday vacation! :) **_

_**Anyways, enjoy guys, it's not much to read, but it's something, so please enjoy again, and feel free to comment.**_

* * *

Waking up from my surgery was something I feared, not because I did not want to wake up (because really that is all I wanted to do right now was wake up), but I was afraid that the nightmare that I had had would come true. Therefore, with doubt I slowly took in my surroundings…

I was in a one patient room, and off to my right next to the window on the big chair was Iron hide's flickering holoform fast asleep. Next to him on the floor, and by the hair I knew it was Bee sleeping against the chair, but what really got me was the two twins; Muds and Skids, Sides and Sunny all sleeping together in a tangled mess upon a small two seated loveseat. To my left and almost next to me was Jazz sleeping soundly with his favorite headphones in his ears, blasting away. The whole scene was heartwarming, to know how much I cared to them with only knowing them for a month or two. However, when I felt a slight squeeze to my right hand, I immediately looked down to find Optimus laying his head in my lap. His face sideways facing me, hand in mine squeezing slightly, his black hair in his face, but none of that could compare to the slight facial hair that came through. That alone made me squeeze his hand in turn, to then use my left hand to brush the hair out of his calm and collectively sleeping face.

"Kayla?" Optimus murmured, and for a second there I thought that he was still sleeping, but then he moved to be able to look up at me from his view on my lap. When those closed eyes did open, my heart picked up beat as well as my breathless lungs. "Hello Optimus" my voice whispered too softly to hear as I warmly smile towards him, which earned me a relieved smile back.

"Hello Kayla, are you feeling better?" he asked sitting up from my lap to not look like he was rude or anything. "Yeah, but I want to know what I went through in surgery… like what did they do?" I asked, looking deep within his eyes to find the perfect answer. However, his eyes filled with grey and guilt, "what happened?" I repeated softly urging him to talk. "Ratchet…" he started, making me quirk an eyebrow at the mech's name. "Ratchet what?" I asked, surprised at how my voice felt velvety calm and collected. While my insides were quenching with fear of what the medical cranky robot might have done to me. "He helped fix you up…" he said in an almost pained state and furrowed his eyes as he looked away from my silent and awaiting gaze.

"What happened?" I asked, starting to get worried at the pained face within Optimus's eyes. A few more minutes of silence passed with just him and me. Until I saw, the tears fall down his face in a silent hurt that only he felt. "Optimus" I said, trying to get his attention and trying to reach him, but failing when I felt the cringe in my shoulder swell along with all the other patched up works upon my body, "Optimus, please don't cry" I whispered to him.

He bowed his head to wipe his eyes in what looked to be a silent prayer. It was hard to watch such a powerful man who has had so many horrible things to go through within his life break down at the thought of me. I was not even quite sure why he was crying, that is why I tried to get his attention. Putting my hand on his arm with difficulty made him look up to grab my hand softly in a very meaningful embrace. However, when I did see his eyes I knew that something bad had happened… something I was not quite ready to hear. Smiling slightly with some tears rolling down my face I managed to wipe some of his away with a small laugh to try to lighten the mood.

"Come here" I whispered, and on command he stood from his kneeling position to sit in the bed with me and hold me tight. It was one of our first embraces that would be filled with all of our love and emotions. An embrace that meant the world to both of us. Besides the feel of his muscular, comforting arms wrap slowly around my back and stomach to meet together was an amazing feel that made my heart swell with pride knowing that even during a time where he was most vulnerable. That I was the only, and probably the first to experience his emotions and his true self in a state like this.

"You don't have to tell me… I understand" I said after a while, and looked up towards his face that was now filled with streaks that had the slightest hint of blue hidden within them. He smiled softly to kiss my forehead, then my nose, and finally my lips. I was not surprised anymore, because to me he was the one and only that could fill my heart with joy and love. The kiss in itself was heartwarming, and almost made me want to cry again, because I had never been treated like that. That a kiss like that was something that I either saw in movies or something that I would dream about a guy doing to me. His warm, soft, and somewhat moist lips made me feel more alive than I have felt in days. That as they touched my lips I felt all of the emotion, along with the slight metal and almost sour taste that came with the after effect of the kiss.

"I thought I was going to lose you… forever," he said with two to three tears escaping his eyes and onto my face, "Something like that… I don't think I could face, not on my own… not without you." he whispered while wiping the tears that had fallen towards my face away with his thumb. For the first time I was speechless. To know that a man/robot could love someone so much, even after a few months of knowing them. That is what made my heart lurch forward to kiss him, this time taking control and tasting his soft lips with my tongue, to get a more feel of him. To get that emotion that bubbled inside both him and me out before us.

"Ow…" I laughed breathlessly as I stared down at his lips that were also in a soft pant. My shoulder had pained as I grabbed his arm to pull him towards me for the kiss, and now I was paying for it. Nevertheless, I could not complain, because this time I took the next step and licked his lips to surprise him in an even longer chaste kiss that was NOT French! "I-"he stumbled in shock as he looked down at me with a lick to his lips.

"Damn!" Someone said and looking behind Optimus there sat Bee staring with a wicked smile written all over his face, "I knew you guys were in to each other… I just didn't know that you were "THAT" in to each other," he laughed with a yawn and a stretch. Looking into Optimus's eyes , we both chuckled with red and blue blushes written on our faces as we looked away from each other in a seemingly "Lady and the Tramp" move from the spaghetti scene. With the memory of Optimus's faithfulness in check, I and the rest of the two awaited my verdict and the awakening of the others from their silent states of slumber (or stasis to be exact).

When Ratchet came into the door to explain what had happened, and upon waking everyone else for the matter, I had to stop him right there.

"Woah, hold on there cowbot, what exactly did you do to me again?" I asked for the second time since Ratchet had explained to me what he had done. Quite frankly I wasn't getting any of what he was telling me. Ratchet sighed at the end of the hospital bed with his hands rubbing his temples in frustration. After a few seconds of Ratchet blowing steam off in his head, he then walked out of the door.

"Hey where are you—" I yelled after him, but shortly after he walked back in with Optimus trailing behind him, and once again he shut the door so that the three of us could chat about the condition that I was currently in. Upon seeing Optimus, I calmed down and smiled in relief as he came to sit on the bed with me. His large comforting hand within mine, along with his soft spoken eyes that bore into me at the moment. "Ratchet has asked me to explain in simpler terms, just exactly what has become of you" Optimus said, making me feel irritated at having to have it dumbed down when I got the gist of the whole damn thing. I mean seriously I got the whole lungs, mechanics, metal and heart shit done with, but now I just wanted to get out and go home, and I don't mean back to Texas. Even though I had to admit that I missed it dearly, I wasn't quite THAT ready to go back there yet.

"and?" I asked, not caring that my emotions showed through, along with the glare I gave Ratchet who only glared back but sighed in defeat when he knew he lost. "Basically during the fight most of your right lung along with the bones and tissue around it had blown to smithereens, and—"

"Yahdah Yahdah Yahdah, Optimus I understand that my lungs and part of my heart had blown to smithereens as you say, but I want to know just what's keeping me alive? Like what did Ratchet do EXACTLY?" I said prolonging my last sentence so that both could finally understand what the heck I was talking about and desperately wanted to know for the last hour and a half since everyone had woken up two hours ago. Looking to Optimus I nodded sarcastically when his face was planted into an understanding "OHhhh I get it," expression. Sighing I looked down and rubbed my temples to calm my frustrated and frankly tired brain. "Look Optimus, I'm sorry for biting your ass like that and I understand that we are all tired and just want to go home, but in order to do that I need you two to elaborate more on whats going on within here" I said motioning with my left hand, my right top half.

Ratchet cleared his throat to get our attention which clearly worked, because we were both staring at his now grandfathery look that he sometimes had when he had something he needed to say. "I restructured your right half within metal form, your heart is working on cybertronian metal and energon which means no more blood donating for you. I also structured what was left of your right lung so in basic terms your structure is the same, in smaller proportions, but in all you are now half cybertronian as we would call it."

"There is a "but" in there somewhere I presume?" I asked, calming down more as he spoke and I tried to come to terms with what he was actually telling me. "Yes," Optimus proceeded to say, and with a glance towards him I felt my heart sink, "You will not be able to train or do exercises anymore due to the lack of oxygen the smaller lung will provide during the exercises." Thinking about it for a minute and then reprocessing what was going on I looked up at them in thought still to count off what was going on..

"So im half cybertronian, whatever that means, and I have a half of a lung to provide me good yet bad oxygen. Meaning-" I finally got it when I heard myself say half of a lung, and looking to Optimus I really felt disappointment within my chest squeeze my half mechanical heart. "I won't be with you anymore" I whispered in confusion looking into Optimus's blue holoform eyes that only confirmed my fear. Movement was made by Ratchet as he left the two of us in silence together, shutting the door after him and locking it as well, so that the twins wouldn't sneak their way inside.

Once we were in silence Optimus lifted his hand towards my cheek to tuck a lock of hair behind my ear, "You will still be working for N.E.S.T just not in training with me anymore."

"But still, that means I won't spend anytime with you whatsoever!" I whined looking into his beat up eyes that showed exhaustion still from the battle, "To be honest it hurts knowing that I won't get to see you and be by you with the warmth and love that you give me" I said to him in all honesty lacing my words together. I could have sworn that I saw his eyes light up in a silent thought, and it was confirmed when he came in to kiss my forehead about what he was up to. "Could you elaborate on that a little more" he teased softly with his lips lingering on my forehead, and after a few seconds of trying to understand what he meant. I finally looked up into his towering frame that was now leaning over me as I rested my head against the propped up bed with a smile. "Yes Optimus, I love you, more than you know" I said in silent thought within the back of my head. "I love you too" he smiled and with his hand he cupped my face to kiss my nose softly and then my lips in a soft sensual kiss. That blew my mind, as I felt the passion behind them wanting to rage towards the top and take over. Pulling away slightly made him look towards me in a dazy disbelief, embarrassment and hurt all in one sight that was heavy from the panting both him and me were now in.

"Slow down" I breathed heavily and when his brows furrowed I smiled and continued to explain, "It's not like I don't want it, it's just that I have both a question and answer in two forms." He nodded slowly sitting back up with his breathing and mine slowing to a constant rhythm again, "Please do explain".

Nodding, I continued, "First of all Mr. Prime" I smiled "where did you get those amazing skills of your's?"

He smiled and chuckled low in both relief and silliness towards the question, "You of all people should know by now that I have another femme back home" he teased towards me making me slap his thigh with my left hand. "Jerk" I smiled while folding my arms, "explain please."

"Okay, okay" he said with his hands up in surrender mode and him smiling. At least he was in a semi-joking mood, which was better than before when we were all sad and gloomy. "I use the internet to understand how you humans work and I believe that it is through Ratchets upgrades each month that we are able to upgrade our holoform as well to do exactly as we ask."

After my short pondering moment I finally nodded, "Okay, so you get to do anything and everything, but what exactly can't you do?"

"create organic life" he said without hesitation, and upon understanding both his words and his fault he then grabbed both my hands within his and with sincerity and complete submission he apologized for his faults. Making me shake my head in a smile and get out of his grip on my hands to then place them on his rough patchy cheeks that frizzled me up inside."I don't care if I can't make a baby with you. I just want to be with you and only you. I want to be happy" I smiled to myself and then chuckled lightly, "Even if that means killing myself for you or hell adopting, it wouldn't matter". I paused, " just as long as I am with you I am happy."

'Wow that was pretty smart Kayla' I thought to myself in contentment, and looked back into Optimus's eyes that to believe it or not, held so much love in them that I thought I was going to blow up with the emotion that he held me with. He filled my heart whole as he came towards me with a smile on his face and a kiss to my lips, eyes, nose, cheeks, ears, neck, and forehead. "I couldn't have asked for anything better than you, Kayla. Because I know now that without you in my life I do not think I could ever live without that big heart of yours" he whispered on my skin and kissed just above where my heart was, making me shudder in response. "Your taking my breath away" I managed out of my now hitched breathing, and a smile evident on my face. "Sorry, love" he smiled and eskimo kissed me before the door knocked once. Making me groan in disappointment at being interrupted, but to my amusement Optimus sat up faster than hell on a stick and grabbed my hand in surprise. That was the first time I noticed that his composure in front of his friends had to be athorative. Meaning I was the first to see Optimus so vulnerable, and to be honest I was planning something good for both me and him to enjoy later on.

'Once we both get back home then I'll show him' I thought as everyone walked in and Optimus gave me a reassuring blush, smile and wink that took my breath away in a tickled amusement of knowing what was about to happen once I was better.

When I finally got back to the hangar, I was half expecting nothing to happen, that life would just keep on going, but when Ratchet's back door opened and I was helped out, I got the opposite of what I was hoping. Everyone and I mean everyone, even the people I did not even know, were all standing around Ratchet's backside awaiting my arrival. As soon as those double doors opened, I was in tears with shock. Everyone was applauding and congratulating me as Ratchet rolled me down the ramp of his backside towards his medical bay.

"Good job Kayla"

"Thanks a lot"

"We are very grateful"

"Damn chick you got one hell of spunk for a rookie"

These were just a few of the comments that were made to me as I was rolled on by. "That wasn't exactly necessary. Besides, I do not even know why they are congratulating me….why are they congratulating me?" I asked Ratchet as soon as the doors to the med-bay were closed shut. "They thought that you were very brave when it came to saving Optimus's life, and quite frankly I am grateful as well." He commented as he zapped out of the space, leaving me in total silence to await the actual Ratchet.

'When would be the best time for me and Optimus?' I thought to myself as the flaps to the other side of the med-bay opened to reveal Optimus, Jazz, Hide, and Bee trailing behind their leader. "Hey boys". I smiled big towards them and felt my heart speed when Optimus's blue optics focused on me.

"Hey Kay," Jazz saluted to me as he plopped down on the bigger dock that was where Ratchet normally worked on the autobots with. With much struggle and arm strength that killed my arm, I slowly made my wheelchair move to where I was facing the four who were in their own silent thoughts. "You guys okay?" my voice softened, and they all looked towards me as if I was crazy. So I sighed in defeat, relaxing within the wheel chair some more to rub the bridge of my nose. "I'm sorry for worrying you guys, I truly am. Honestly my only thoughts were on his well-being, because I know that without him you guys are nothing" I said and whispered to where only the sharpest ear could hear the small comment I made when a tear slipped my cheek, "Without him, I am nothing."

I barely had the chance to blink when blue optics were in my face, and by the looks of them they were obviously Hides who scared the shit out of me. I jumped ten feet out of my chair with a squeak of surprise. "Fleshy don't you ever say anything like that again." his rough voice said, making me scrunch in my chair from the intensity that came from the stare he gave me. I knew that they would be mad at me when I said that, but it was something that I hoped would give them reason to believe why I did what I did back there. "Look we love Optimus to death and would die for him, like I have," Jazz started hopping off of the chair to kneel down towards me, "But that's not the point…the point is that when one enters the family like you have, then if one of us thinks your important then all of us do, and to be blunt we love you to death too. However, that doesn't mean that Optimus loves you more, and the thing is that he was honored, terrified, and going insane because of what you did for him, and the thought of losing you.

I just stared back to him in surprise, because that was as much talk that jazz and me had had since the first day I met him. Moreover, by this point I was shocked at the pep talk he gave me, so when I looked to where Optimus should have been I was even more surprised to find him not there. My mind, voice, and heart where speechless. "You weren't there when you passed out, you didn't see his reaction," Bee said in sincere honesty. "He was in a state that I myself have never seen him in, and I have known him most of my life" Ratchet added as he came into the bay, stopping briefly to look at me deeply. "To make it simple…. He would give his spark for you," Hide said gruffly. When the pep talk had ended with those words, I looked down in thought and remembered his face back in the hospital. The way his eyes shined with undying love for a mere human… one that was not his own… me.

"I have to see him" I whispered making all four in the room strain to hear me, so when I repeated louder and more in command than before, they helped me stand to walk to where they knew he would be. Talking with Lennox and Epps. When I made my way to where Optimus was, I was taken aback to find him in the Peterbilt form. So taking a deep breath, I looked up at Ratchet and Bee who had helped me walk all this way towards him and nodded in appreciation. "Thanks a ton guys, but I think I can take it from here." I smiled up at them and limped my way towards the silent Peterbilt. Knocking on the driver's side door made a whirring noise sound and I fell back onto the floor to watch the transformation before my eyes in amazement. "Kayla…" Optimus whispered as he knelt down from his tall stance to help me onto his hand, but I shoved it out of the way, shaking my head at the offer. "I want to talk in private if that's okay," I hinted, and he nodded transforming again into the Peterbilt, opening the driver's side door to let me in. Once inside and relaxed with the door shut I sighed, "First off I am sorry about what I said… I shouldn't have said it like that and to be truthful I can't live without you and I am just so—"

"Kayla" the radio said softly, making me shut up completely, "You really should stop apologizing." Noticing the tease within his voice I then relaxed and knelt forwards to kiss the steering wheel, making him shiver in response. "Thank you for understanding you tease bucket." I laughed softly, making him chuckle deeply in response. "Besides there was nothing to apologize for, since I had heard what you said back there… about the fact that you, yourself, can't live without me. I was very honored…" he left it at that and I just sat there in silence staring dumbfounded at the dash. That is until I cracked up with tears flowing down my face, "Ah yes that one was meant for your ears only." I said to him rubbing the steering wheel caringly. "Good to know." his authorative voice came on, having me think about the other night at the hospital. "By the way, I must say that I like getting to know the real you." I commented sweetly for him to understand.

"What do you mean?" he chuckled fondly towards me. "Exactly that… that the you right now is YOU and not the you outside with your comrades. It makes me feel special to be able to be a part of that link between you and me."

"I am glad you feel that way" he said and started moving forwards towards the exit/entrance of the hangar. "Where to?" I asked, and when he did not answer, my heart skipped like five beats. "What do you want for Christmas?" he asked me, and with that, I was blown away. Even if it was a stupid simple question, I myself felt the care within his voice as I slowly realized that it was indeed a week away from Christmas. "Well… what about you? I mean have you guys celebrated it, ever?" I asked, remembering the years that they have been here. "We have celebrated with the army every year, but I want to make it special so that we get a better feel of human culture. It's something that I am fond of" he added, and it made me smile in thought. "It wouldn't hurt to have a good ole Christmas with the hangar base… besides I need something different this year, and it better be with you." I smiled thoughtfully thinking about the thought from earlier and realizing what an even better Christmas present it would make for Optimus. Making me smile wickedly at the evil plan conducting within my mind at the moment.

'Oh this will be good' I thought, 'reeeaall good'. "Always." was Primes answer as he pulled up next to my apartment building, that event, though it was a short two-step walk, made myself feel happiness at the generosity of what Optimus had done. Making me think about our relationship and where it was going to end up in the future if he kept being courteous all the time.


End file.
